Coffee has become the alternative to sleep, with teens beginning to turn to in order to jumpstart their hectic days- but what does this increasing amount of coffee consumption really mean for teenagers who lack proper sleep?
According to the National Sleep Foundation, teenagers need eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep a night. “On a good night I get six and a half hours to seven hours of sleep,” said sophomore Camille Donaghey. But unfortunately adolescents find themselves with less time for sleep, causing the average amount of sleep for teenagers to be a mere seven hours a night as stated by Nationwide’s Children. With many students suffering with more and more school work, the hours of sleep go down and the cups of coffee go up. A 2001 Sleep in America poll found 43 percent of people are using caffeinated drinks to fight daily sleepiness.
This obvious increase in intake and decrease in sleep can lead to mild and serious health problems such as insomnia, rapid heartbeat and anxiety. With coffee consumption becoming mainstream, people are glamorizing caffeine addictions, with the hashtag #coffeeaddict having over three and a half million posts on Instagram. But in reality teens are increasingly suffering from this “overdose” of caffeine, the number of adolescents using caffeine have tripled since the 1970’s according to the Teen Rehab Center. Student’s dependence on this natural drug can result in serious issues too. “I feel lousy when I don’t drink it- like I’m missing something,” says Rose Singleton, a sophomore, when she does not have her morning coffee, and she’s not alone. Students who suffer from caffeine withdrawal are more irritable and tired in general because of their growing need for the drug.
Overall, the increase in the number of students craving daily caffeine is becoming a more prominent problem, with the side effects of caffeine addiction and withdrawal becoming progressively more serious and the need for sleep increasing, these two side effects are giving students a wealth of problems and providing them with good reason to cut back.
