Coffee dependency of modern-day teenagers

Have you ever considered how much caffeine do you consume on a daily basis? A grammar school survey results might surprisingly relate to you!

Discovering coffee

There comes a moment in every pre-teens life where they get curious about what is that strange, hot chocolate-looking substance in their parents mugs every morning. After they take a sip, reactions might differ, but one is to know: most of them don’t realise they will, for the majority of their lives, spend doing the exact thing they observed their parents doing each day. They will mimic them, slowly adapting into their new routine that has the key ingredient for the final transformation into adulthood: coffee.

Teens and caffeine

Caffeine is a drug that stimulates the brain and nervous system, and too much of it can contribute to a variety of health problems. Today’s teenagers aren’t aware how much coffee is too much, they often forget how serious of problems caffeine can cause, from cardiovascular disease to chronic insomnia. Coffee intake is so normalized that even over-consumption of coffee is considered “quirky” and is embraced. TV shows that influence young teens, like the American show Gilmore Girls, where coffee is consumed like water, don’t show the consequences of an overly caffeine intake. According to the Michigan Medicine Department, a quarter of parents who participated in their study say that caffeine is a part of their teen’s daily life.

Coffee drinking habits of PGV students and their opinions on addiction

The members of English News Agency at Prva gimnazija Varaždin, Croatia have conducted a survey intended for the students of Prva gimnazija Varaždin regarding their coffee drinking habits. The number of students who completed the survey was 137. After analysing the feedback, we can conclude the following: more than half of the students drink 2-3 coffees per day, which is a worrying amount since an average cup of coffee contains 95 milligrams of caffeine, making 3 cups about 285 milligrams, hence more than double the recommended amount for an average teen.

Coffee as an academic tool

Regarding the most popular reasons why coffee is so loved by our students, two thirds of them say that they drink coffee because they enjoy the taste, half of them drink it to stay awake during school hours and get through challenging lectures and less than half say it improves their mood and helps with stress. Exam season is a stressful period with no time to waste, and barely any time to get a good night’s sleep as our students can agree. A little bit less than half of them said they like their coffee to come with the strength to survive on small amounts of sleep, since the score on their physics exam is more important than being rested. Most of them drink coffee during the week, 87%, to be specific. A few of them enjoy it at weekends, too.

No coffee left out

Our school is diverse in every aspect; culture, language, personal interests, and also coffee. There are many types of coffee, and our students like them all. From regular coffee with milk, which is the most popular, consumed by, more than half of the respondents, to somewhat less popular but not any less worthy espresso, which is only favoured by a few.

When is much too much?

We have well educated, bright people at Prva gimnazija Varaždin, who sometimes put their academic values over their physical wellbeing. Almost a quarter of the students said they consume coffee in excessive amounts, which is a lot regarding the survey-to-school-population ratio. Our last question was whether the students believe they can quit drinking coffee for good. The majority of participants said they could, but would start to miss it after some time. Worryingly, wast majority of grammar school students questioned stated that coffee is a part of their routine and they could not quit drinking it. For a group of participants who are all no older than 18, it is safe to say they might face a lot of problems later in life regarding their coffee dependency.

Written by Tia Marija Milak, Prva gimnazija Varaždin, Croatia