OPINION: Give me a minute (for coffee)

Coffee is, to me, the most powerful drug. I crave it not only in the morning, but at all times of the day. School is one place I feel the pull to grab a cup of coffee more than anywhere else. When I am restricted from my coffee, I am bitter, frustrated, and grumpy. Not only am I angry I can’t have my coffee, but I am mad I’m being treated like a child who can’t keep a cup from spilling over. I can drive a car, apply to college and watch my younger sister, but I can’t be shown the trust or respect I am expected to give freely to buy myself an iced coffee. Not only is this hypocritical, but confusing to myself and my peers. Give us a minute for coffee or stop calling us young adults when, to you, we are clearly children.

Every morning, West Essex students of every age slap hands over their alarms, stumble out of bed and prepare for another day in jail — I mean, school. For many students, the only cure for this curse is a cup of coffee, hot or iced, but here, the simple act of getting a cup of joe can be more daunting than expected.

“Busy” is a major understatement when describing our cafeteria. Especially in  the morning, the caf is buzzing with students trying to get a breakfast sandwich, water or cup of coffee. With so many students and only one person manning the register, students are often late to first period.  Since the cafeteria only opens at 7:30, we only have seven minutes to find what we want, make it if we must, wait in line, and then run all the way to either side of the school.

“I’m almost always rushing in the morning,” junior Ali Gann said. “Even if I get to school on time, coffee makes me late because of the long line.”

This is the case for most coffee drinkers at West Essex, and it’s not just in the morning either. Students have five minutes to get to their next class when the bell rings at the end of the last one, an amount of time that already has us running to our classes even without any snack stops. Factor in a potential pit stop for coffee, and that meaning students are almost guaranteed to be late to class. And if that’s the case, then why is the caf even open between classes in the first place?

“It’s not fair,” junior Ellie Decker said. “They expect so much in such a short amount of time.”

Most times, students can’t leave class to buy coffee from the caf;  teachers cite attendance as the reason for stopping them. But students who are too tired to learn in class are getting much less out of the lesson the entire period; if missing five minutes to pick up coffee means being awake and alert for the remaining 50, that’s a better educational payoff in the long run. .

“A lot of my teachers have a coffee for themselves every morning, but I can’t get one for myself? Seems unfair is all,” sophomore Sophia Hug said.

This is a common problem for multiple West Essex students: If they attempt to ask their teachers why they aren’t allowed to have coffee, students are reprimanded and called rude. Teachers lack of trust for students is especially apparent when we are denied from getting a coffee.

“I feel like I’m treated like a little kid sometimes,” junior Alexis Lombardo said.

“If I try and make my point, I’m seen as disrespectful and, you know, a bad student,” junior Cameron Marino said. “ All I want is my coffee in the morning or else I’m falling asleep all period.”

For upperclassmen especially , this is offensive. Not only do we have to ask permission to leave a room, but when we are told no, it means we can’t be trusted to walk down the hall and back. The fact the juniors and seniors, many of whom are eighteen-year-old adults, are treated this way is plain disrespectful. As we’re in class preparing to take on the adult world, we’re simultaneously being told we’re too young to act old and too old to act young. This is frustrating, unfair and irrational.

From a technical standpoint, yes, drinking coffee in class is against most classroom practices. But the only line included in the student handbook about bringing drinks into class is “Students are not permitted to take food, drink, chairs, dishes or utensils outside the cafeteria.” This tiny line is not specific to bringing in our own coffee and seems quite broad, so this excuse seems implausible.

Paying attention to a lesson at 8 a.m. that some students couldn’t care less about is hard enough, but stealing our coffee breeds the type of angry teenager that no teacher wants in their class. Giving students a few minutes, between classes or if there’s a free moment during class, to head to the caf for a hot or iced coffee won’t create mass rebellion to the system. By making a compromise  with students, teachers will make them more agreeable. One cup of coffee is enough to turn us from irritable and begrudging to grateful and satisfied, making a much better student overall.

“I think we all need to be given a break in the morning,” senior Danielle Farina said.