When Lauren Wickham was younger, her parents only needed to remind her to bring her lunch box and an extra sweater to school in case she got cold.
Now a sophomore in high school, Wickham no longer needs to be reminded about clothes, but instead needs to reminds herself to bring her Starbucks card so she can gether daily vanilla latte with an extra shot of espresso. The combination of a late night doing homework and a full day ahead at school results in her craving caffeine.
In 2010, 73 percent of children under the age of 18 consumed caffeine on any given day, and from 2000 to 2010, coffee consumption in children went up 14 percent,
according to a CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
English teacher Alex Franklin brings coffee to his class in the mornings. Not only does he use the coffee as a pickme up for himself, but he also offers it to his half-awake first period students.
“I’ll bring in a box for students [in the morning] because I think a lot of people are struggling to wake up,” Franklin said. “It’s a slow thaw for me at that hour, and definitely for my students.”
Franklin thinks his students are so tired in the morning because of the extra hours spent studying late at night.
During her junior year, current senior Christine Cook struggled to balance sports, a job, and a course load full of honors and AP classes.
In order to get all her homework done, Cook had a couple options. Most nights, she would just stay up as late as it took to complete all her work, around 1 to 3 a.m. If she felt too tired to get anything done, she’d go to bed around 12 a.m. and wake up early the next morning to finish the rest of her work.
“The more radical option was to pull an all-nighter and die the next day,” Cook said.
Last year, Cook would have several cups of coffee throughout the day to keep her awake and focused. On an average day, she’d have a cup in the morning, one after school, and occasionally again in the evening. If she knew she was going to be up very late doing homework, she’d have another cup at 11 p.m.
When Franklin attended high school in the East Bay, he didn’t remember anyone having coffee and believes that its hike in popularity is a recent phenomenon.
“Very rarely was [my high school experience] like it is today. I think today it’s very accelerated and there’s much, much more expected,” Franklin said.
According to a recent Bark survey, although 44 percent of students said that they do not drink coffee, 20 percent of students said that they drink coffee two to three times a school week, and 13.5 percent of students reported drinking it more than six times a school week.
Wickham typically gets a coffee drink from Starbucks in the morning and then again after school to help her stay focused throughout the day, and she’s not alone. Whether it’s a stop before school or at lunch, the array of drinks the company offers can be spotted tucked into hands throughout campus.
The popularity of the chain among young people is continuing to rise. Twenty eight percent of students reported that they will usually get their coffee beverages from Starbucks.
Locations continue to pop up everywhere, even though plenty of stores already exist. The Town Center in Corte Madera has two Starbucks locations—one in Safeway, and another one just a couple hundred feet away, not to mention a third location right across Highway 101 in The Village and countless other stores in Marin alone.
“I think Starbucks—when it became popular, hit the scene marketing to teens,” Franklin said. “So, what seemed to be more of an older person’s drink, became an everybody drink.”
