Teens at Spectrum High School open up about how caffeine is affecting them and some speak up about their experiences with it following the week of October 31st.

According to VeryWell Health, “80% of people worldwide consume caffeinated products, 73% of that being from children eighteen and younger.” Caffeine is proven to enhance your mood, improve reaction time, and help those process information faster and more focused.

“I used to have two scoops of pre-workout every day when I was going to the gym every day. So that’s like 5000 mg a week.” says Emery Deusterman, junior. “I used to drink about 3 energy drinks a day and plus a cup of coffee. So that was about 1000 milligrams a day.” mentions Ethan Schmidt, junior. The average amount of caffeine students were consuming every day was 622.5 milligrams. For reference, that’s over 6 cups of coffee a day. 

Photo of a Monster energy drink, photo taken by Jezabel Dimaze.

“Caffeine triggers pleasure circuits in the brain’s reward system. It gives your brain a burst of dopamine… This is the same process that leads to drug addiction. It is thought that caffeine’s effect on the brain’s reward and addiction center may influence a child’s food and drink preferences later in life” says VeryWell Health. 

Emery Deusterman said, “Pretty sure I went through withdrawal…I got really really sick for a few days. I had a bad headache. But after that got over, I felt better than I ever had after needing all of the caffeine to focus.” “It keeps me focused on things. When I don’t have it, I’m everywhere and getting nothing done.” speaks Zakya Siegler, senior.

To some, caffeine is just a boost to get you out of bed in the morning. To others, it’s a part of them and their life.