It’s December, and students’ workloads are higher than ever. Seniors hurriedly finish their college applications, while juniors and sophomores prepare for emotionally and mentally taxing midterms, while freshmen adjust themselves to a new system. It’s a stressful time of year, and many students turn to caffeine as a way to cope with the increased workload. However, as students begin to increase their caffeine intake, it’s crucial to recognize both the upsides and downsides of caffeine use.

As the clock blinks 2:00 a.m., a student stares in disbelief at the mountain of homework sitting atop her desk. The stack of papers is heavy, but not as heavy as the weight of her GPA on her life. Her energy is long depleted, and she reaches for the half-empty can of Celsius beside her – the silent promise of just a few more hours of focus.

Between tests, sports, and late-night study sessions, caffeine has quietly transformed into the unofficial lifeline for Westwood survival. Whether it’s in the form of a fizzy Alani Nu or a creamy Starbucks latte, caffeine is marketed as the ultimate academic hack to survive the endless grind. In the academically cutthroat jungle that is Westwood, caffeine isn’t just an energizer, it’s a survival strategy. Yet, behind the buzz and sleek marketing lies a harsher truth.  What feels like rescue often comes with strings attached. Though disguised as productivity, reliance on caffeine is a slippery slope to a host of health issues.  Caffeine isn’t saving teenagers – it’s destroying them slowly and quietly.

Caffeine works by blocking adenosine, the chemical in the brain that signals fatigue, and tricking the brain into forgetting that it’s exhausted. Once the caffeine fades, every hidden bit of drowsiness comes crashing back, sending students scrambling back for another fix. It’s a vicious cycle that kills you slowly: drink caffeine to stay awake, crash harder, need even more to function. 

“Because [teenage] bodies are still developing, any type of molecule like [caffeine] is going to affect them in some sort of negative aspect,” chemistry teacher Ms. Natalie Fischbach said. “[Teenagers] are creating an addiction at a young age, and they’re probably messing with their adrenal glands.”

 However, the impacts of caffeine aren’t just limited to the long term. The half-life of caffeine can stretch up to six hours, meaning that “harmless” after-school drink is the reason for tossing and turning at night, brains too wired to rest, resulting in students performing worse in school the next day.

“Sometimes if I need to study at night, I’ll have [an energy drink] at 9:00 p.m., and it affects my sleep,” Angie Wang ‘28 said. “I know caffeine isn’t good for teens because I’ve experienced the negative side effects. I get sleep paralysis from caffeine a lot.” 

The irony is painful: students drink caffeine to study harder, but the very thing they’re relying on destroys their focus, sleep, and memory. Popular energy drinks like Red Bull and Celsius market themselves as healthy and clean choices, but their contents tell a different story. A single can holds 200 milligrams of caffeine, which is roughly equivalent to two or three cups of coffee, alongside artificial sweeteners and additives. The result is a potent mix that can trigger jitteriness, anxiety, and irregular heartbeats. Teenagers should consume no more than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day, yet many consume double that amount before noon. Despite these side effects, students still reach for an energy drink in replacement of sleep.

“Anytime I have an energy drink, I have jitters and anxiety,” Ruby Jones ‘26 said. “I’ve fainted before, my hands cramp up, I get really shaky, I lost my vision once, and I get really bad headaches.”

Yet despite headaches and insomnia, caffeine feels like the only option for overworked students.  Between AP classes, college preparation, practices, clubs, and social expectations, they are constantly told to “do more.” Tiredness feels like failure, so caffeine becomes the shortcut to keep up. The truth is, caffeine isn’t helping students succeed; it’s masking how exhausted they actually are. 

“I’m in more AP classes and harder classes [that] require more work, [and] I see people who have high workloads [that] need to stay up later and do more work,” Dylan Scales ‘27 said. “[Those people] need those energy drinks [to stay awake]. I do hear a lot of people saying [things like] ‘Oh man, I’m gonna fall asleep if I don’t have Red Bull right now.’”

The lie caffeine sells is that fatigue is a flaw to fix, not a signal from the body that something is wrong. The real problem isn’t that students can’t stay awake, it’s that they’re being pushed to believe they shouldn’t need rest at all. 

“[Students] are exhausted because we’re doing too much,” Paige Chien ‘27 said. “Instead of being told to rest, we resort to caffeine because it masks the exhaustion. We keep fueling our bodies with energy drinks, but our bodies are tired. We need to start putting down the caffeine and go to bed.”

Maybe the real “academic hack” isn’t in a can, but in taking a nap. No energy drink or Starbucks late can replace what students actually need: balance, rest, and a little grace with themselves. Sometimes, the most productive thing to do is to go to sleep.

In the middle of a test, a student feels a lack of sleep kicking in and their eyelids getting heavy. They try to fight the urge to sleep, but they know that they must stay awake to complete the test. They decide to take a sip of coffee to stay awake.

Whether a student is staying up late to study for a test, struggling to stay awake in class, or just trying to make it through the day, caffeine is a go-to wake-me-up tool for most students, and  that’s for a good reason. In moderation, caffeine can improve focus and productivity.

“I’m not sure what it is specifically but I’m some sort of night owl,” Ruhan Gupta ‘27 said. “I stay up until at least 2 a.m. every single day finishing up my work because I find it easier to work. I usually drink coffee in the evening, so it kicks in at 8 or 9 p.m. and then I stay up until 2 and get all my work done.”

Especially when studying or taking a test, caffeine helps students focus more. Drinking coffee during times of necessity helps students stay awake enough to get through the test or study session. Furthermore, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, caffeine enhances academic performance of students when tired. In addition to improving memory, caffeine also improves attention and reaction times, both of which are important when taking a test. 

“I think [caffeine] has helped me study and with my academics,” Rupal Jain ‘27 said. “I [fall] asleep easily, [both] during class or when I’m studying, but if I have coffee or some sort of thing that will caffeinate me, it helps keep me awake and helps me get through a lot of homework.”

Students that stay up late to study will sacrifice their sleep no matter how tired they are. Even if students curb their caffeine intake, the endless stream of tests, assignments, and work from extracurricular activities will never cease. Students prioritizing their academic life over sleep is inevitable, but caffeine makes it inevitable. Caffeine helps students stay alert during study sessions, decreasing the damage done to their sleep schedule. 

“Sometimes when I don’t get enough sleep at night because I’m studying late into the night, I’ll usually have a cup of coffee in the morning and it will keep me going until the end of the day,” Alan Morillo ‘26 said. “And other times when I just need to focus better, I’ll just drink a coffee or have an energy drink and it will help me focus.”

Other than increasing drowsiness after the caffeine wears off, there aren’t any long term negative impacts that come from using caffeine in a moderation A research study published by the National Library of Medicine states that excessive caffeine intake (200 to 2000 mg) may cause anxiety and sleep, but most subjects had a preexisting anxiety disorder. Most students don’t consume more than 200 mg of caffeine per day (approximately two to three cups of coffee) so generally, there are no negative health effects to drinking a cup or coffee when studying.

“I think caffeine in moderate amounts is good,” Jain said. “A lot of times, students are forced to stay up late and our sleep schedule isn’t the best so caffeine helps a lot with that. But I do think caffeine does need to be moderated.”

While it is true that excessive caffeine intake can be bad for students, using it in moderation is not only fine, but an effective and necessary tool for students to manage their difficult workloads.