Question: How do energy drinks affect how students concentrate at school and does it affect their behaviour, do you think that energy drinks should be banned in schools? How do energy drinks affect how students concentrate at school and does it affect their behaviour, do you think that energy drinks should be banned in schools?

Lowri Evans answered on 4 Mar 2016:

This is a really interesting question, and it’s something I came across regularly when I used to work in a school.

I think energy drinks have a negative impact on how students concentrate in schools. More often than not, they go to the shop on the way to school to buy an energy drink and drink it on the way. Although they may not realise it initially, these students would then start to experience the effects of caffeine on the body. Within 10 minutes of drinking an energy drink, heart rate and blood pressure rise. Over the next 15-45 minutes, caffeine levels in the bloodsteam hit a peak, and that person may experience feeling more alert. After an hour, the body begins to experience a sugar crash, and they will start to feel tired. Given that most students drink an energy drink on their way to school at, say, 8am, and their first lesson is 9am, chances are they’re feeling really tired and quite grumpy. This is when we start to see behavioural problems in schools, as tired, grumpy students are generally not in the right frame of mind for learning, and will push back against it.

While a lot of students may think the drinks will give them more energy, help them concentrate better or perform better in sports, these no evidence that energy drinks will help with any of these goals. Energy drinks often interfere with peoples sleep patterns, making them eventually more tired. They are then more likely to reach for another energy drink, and get stuck into a cycle.

I believe in education, rather than trying to force people to chance their behaviour as a result of rules. While a school banning energy drinks would be in the best interest of the students, by teaching them about how energy drinks impact the body, they will probably be more successful.