The sound of a popping tab has been a familiar background noise in high school hallways, but the rising popularity of high stimulant drinks is beginning to test the limits of student health. While an energy drink offers a quick solution to fatigue, the trade-off of long term organ damage is raising questions about how students will protect their bodies during their prime growth years.

The trend has shifted from an occasional study aid to a standard part of the school day for students like sophomore Teagan Rister. For Rister, the drinks are a necessity just to stay awake through her lectures.

“I feel like I need to reach for an energy drink during the school day because I will genuinely just  fall asleep in class,” Rister said. “If I don’t have my energy drink, it makes it hard for me to focus, so I need caffeine to focus on my studies.”

Rister said the main benefit she sees is a level of productivity she cannot get from food or water.

“It makes me more active, wanting to get up, move around, and do more stuff,” Rister said. “After I have my usual energy drink, it gives me motivation to do what I need to do instead of sitting down and doing nothing.”

Other students, like sophomore Abril Arias Perez, use the drinks more as a mental tool for focus and a way to celebrate finishing a task.

“It’s usually the sugar in it, and it makes me more focused and energized,” Arias Perez said. “It acts as a reward after finishing a long period of work; I’ll grab an energy drink and just feel proud of myself.”

Anatomy teacher Kelly Lancaster said he has witnessed a major shift in how normal these drinks have become in the classroom environment compared to previous years.

“I would say about one fourth to one third of my students have energy drinks in class now,” Lancaster said. “Many years ago, they only drank them at night.”

Lancaster said he believes the trend is driven by both social pressure and the way these products are presented to teenagers.

“I think kids feel more pressure, but I also think that they see others doing it and feel like it will be OK for them to do it,” Lancaster said. “I think they are more accepted. The advertising makes them seem more mainstream.”

While the initial spike provides a rush, students often have very different experiences with the eventual crash. For Arias Perez, the energy feels like it lasts the whole time, but she describes the sugar crash for others as a dulling of the senses.

“It feels very tiring, like you’ll feel the energy and everything but more muffled and muted,” Arias Perez said. “And the previous feeling will be less and less until it fades away.”

Once that spike fades, Rister noted her mind begins to wander and she often ends up falling asleep. This cycle is tied to how caffeine blocks adenosine, the chemical that signals the brain to rest. When the caffeine wears off, the brain is flooded with all the tiredness it was missing. Lancaster noted he sees this impact on student temperament in the classroom.

“I don’t see too much change in the student’s ability to follow instructions, but they seem to have less patience with their fellow students,” Lancaster said.

Beyond the social impact, school nurse Carolyn Jones sees the immediate physical toll when students end up in her office with racing hearts. She uses specific clinical markers to evaluate the danger.

“What are their vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate)?” Jones said. “Are they sweating or cold and clammy? Are they having other complaints such as dizziness, palpitations, and chest pain?”

This distress is often tied to a condition called QT Prolongation. According to research from the American Heart Association and the Mayo Clinic, this electrical delay can trigger a lethal rhythm. Stimulants can also cause coronary artery spasms, leading to heart attacks in healthy young people with clean arteries, a condition known as MINOCA.

Jones said the acidity in the drinks is another major concern for a student’s long term health.

“The acidity can cause the enamel to break down [resulting in] cavities and tooth loss,” Jones said. “For our bones, it can lead to osteoporosis since the body is robbed of essential nutrients causing them to become weak, porous and increases the risks of fractures.”

This process is known as mineral leaching. High doses of caffeine act as a diuretic, causing the kidneys to flush out calcium. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, every 100 milligrams of caffeine consumed causes a loss of about six milligrams of calcium. Furthermore, the phosphoric acid used for flavor forces the body to pull calcium and magnesium directly out of the bones to stay balanced.

For Rister, the habits have changed her mood on days she goes without a drink, making her feel lazy or sad. Arias Perez, however, only reaches for them during high stress periods and has been trying to minimize her consumption lately.

“I only usually drink them during midterms or competition season,” Arias Perez said. “But my body is so accustomed to it only during periods of time, that when I don’t have it, it doesn’t affect me.”

Lancaster noted the pressure of the school year often drives these habits, especially during December.

“I see kids swamped at the end of each semester,” Lancaster said. “December is really challenging because the students have finals and lots of activities, especially all those who help with the Angel Tree.”

However, Jones warned the internal filtration system of the body is often overwhelmed by this seasonal spike in consumption. Research from BMJ Case Reports and the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows the liver is the only organ that can process the fructose found in these drinks, converting it directly into fat. Massive doses of synthetic Niacin (Vitamin B three) can also lead to non viral hepatitis.

“A high sugar diet in general isn’t good for your body,” Jones said. “It causes the pancreas to produce insulin at a higher rate which could cause long term issues like insulin resistance or type two diabetes. Likewise, the liver is also working harder and causes issues like fatty liver or inflammation.”

Jones said while she hasn’t seen many students on campus with kidney stones yet, she does see more urinary infections because students choose these drinks over water. Medical studies from Jazan University show that caffeine induced dehydration makes urine more concentrated, allowing minerals to crystallize into painful stones.

“I only usually drink them during midterms or competition season, but it is like a staple part of my routine of just picking up an energy drink and heading my way to school,” Arias Perez said. “It acts as a reward after finishing a long period of work; I’ll grab an energy drink and just feel proud of myself.”

Even with the financial cost of $2.50 to $3.50 per drink, many students feel the drinks are a part of their identity. Arias Perez noted she would switch to soda or another beverage to fill that void if they were no longer sold near school. However, Lancaster remains concerned about the long term dependency students are building.

“I only teach juniors and seniors, but it is still too soon for them to depend on energy drinks to survive,” Lancaster said.