Teenagers across the world have begun to form their addictions. These teens have started to rely heavily on caffeine to get through the day. Whether it’s energy drinks, coffee, charged drinks, refreshers, or a combination of these, young adults have fallen into the hands of these caffeinated drinks.
Around the world the average caffeine consumption for adolescents in July 2021 was between 75-240 mg which has been on the rise since. The rates for heart attacks with young adults continue to rise by 2 percent each year (Coincidence? I think not). No matter which generation, there’s a new addiction that grows up right along with it.
Young adults around the world have given their input on this subject:
- Kyle Harden (19, American)- “It’s technically not an addiction because I can stop at any time. I just don’t feel like stopping right now.”
- Maria Gildds (10, British)- “I get my Starbucks drink every morning before school and no amount of data is gonna stop me from getting my double whipped, ten vanilla pumped, oat milk, blended, pumpkin spiced, iced coffee.”
- Yu Jin (22, Korean)- “Actually, according to statistics that’s just not true. My sources? Just trust me.”
- Olaf Berg (16, Swedish)- “You would think our parents would at least be grateful that we aren’t smoking eight packs a day like they were back in the 1900s.”
Although they aren’t expressing their concern, these teens should be worried about the rising rates. Those close to these teens have chosen to voice their own concerns:
- Mildred Harden (mother)- “He becomes more like his father every day. As long as his drinking doesn’t switch to alcohol, I’ll be happy.”
- Patrick Gildds (father)- “I’m just tired of half my paycheck going into her fifteen dollar drink. She doesn’t even bother to buy me anything either.”
- An Jin (aunt)- “It’s crazy to think that these teens become so heavily reliant on consumeristic products. What a sad world we live in.”
- Felix Berg (grandfather)- “I’ve never been more proud. He’s just passing on my legacy. I drink at least twelve cups of coffee a day.”
Older generations have become increasingly annoyed with these children who have so willingly started their caffeine addictions. They are currently making the claim that their generation could never be so stupid to fall for these “traps”.
However, it’s easy for anyone from any of these generations to fall into the hands of any number of addictions. Here’s a list created of some common addictions:
- Gambling (colonizers can finally pay for their sins)
- Alcohol (it gives you an excuse to be abusive)
- Cigarettes (some people can pull it off… others just look like deadbeats)
- Vapes (it’s a less cool cigarette)
- Social Media (who needs social interaction anyways?)
- Painkillers (it’s ok, we all just want to be happy)
- Shopping (one more trinket won’t hurt)
- Food (does anyone actually have a healthy relationship with food?)
- Gaming (please take a shower)
- Lying/Stealing (please get therapy)
While older generations like to ignore their own problems and focus on giving younger generations new ones, they need to see the truth: no one is perfect (especially not them).
Caffeine addictions are just one of the many that the population faces and that has become increasingly popular in recent years. The availability and access to this drug does nothing to stop this addiction from spreading.
These kids are surrounded by empty energy drink cans. Surrounded by coffee huts. There’s no limit to how much they want to consume (not that it would stop them anyways).
Throughout history it’s been shown time and time again that banning or putting an age limit on anything does not stop it from being consumed or done (abortions, drugs, underaged drinking, drinking and driving, guns, and street racing, just to name a few).
Although law enforcement works super hard at eating their feelings, they struggle to put in that same effort into stopping everyone in the world from doing illegal activity.
These addictions, caffeine in particular, are starting to set in at younger and younger ages. Some of the guardians of those interviewed claimed that their kid “came out of the womb drinking coffee”. Some of them came out as a “walking sponsor” for companies like Starbucks.
There’s no clear end in sight to any of these prominent issues and many communities continue to face backlash. Some of these communities are also condoning these behaviors by placing coffee carts in order to profit off of these impressionable adolescents.
One side effect of this caffeine is the raised level of brattiness in already moody teens (especially when going through withdrawal). Not only does this increase the jitteriness of students in class, but it increases their sassy comebacks to teachers. So for both the sake of the teachers and students, get help.
———————————————————————————————————————
