At the nearby Starbucks,\u00a0across from\u00a0the middle school, at\u00a0certain times of the day – every\u00a0morning before class and when school is out in the afternoon –\u00a0the lines of young people waiting to order coffee are out the door.<\/p>\n
Backpacks on and\u00a0cell phones engaged, clumps of them are pushing and joking around and ordering like\u00a0world-weary veterans of coffee houses.\u00a0 Some of these kids are small – as is often the case\u00a0in middle school where\u00a0that first year it’s tough to tell the 8th graders from the fifth and sixth graders they recently were.\u00a0 They grow at different rates, so we have some girls dressed like The Pussycat Dolls and others\u00a0dressed in\u00a0oversize playclothes.\u00a0\u00a0 And I give up trying to guess the ages of the boys.\u00a0 Some are\u00a0six feet tall and the voice hasn’t changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Next door is a juice\/smoothie emporium which doesn’t have\u00a0nearly as many\u00a0customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’m in line wondering where they get the money for custom coffee every day?\u00a0 Do the same people who bought them their iPods and cell phones and PDA’s\u00a0know they’re here\u00a0at Starbucks\u00a0before 8 A.M. ordering complicated coffee drinks like experts?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do parents drop them off at school and then the\u00a0kids sneak over here?\u00a0\u00a0Or is everyone aware – both\u00a0parents and\u00a0 school employees –\u00a0that this time before school starts is\u00a0loaded with potential pitfalls?<\/p>\n
How about after school?\u00a0 Why are they spending hours in and around a coffee shop?\u00a0\u00a0Aren’t they expected home?\u00a0 They fill the coffee shop and the plaza in front\u00a0every day, and they’re all holding drinks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Current wisdom says\u00a0 caffeine can be beneficial for some, when consumed in moderation.\u00a0 Alternate current wisdom says\u00a0caffeine is\u00a0 bad, bad, bad for kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Age-old wisdom says that kids who are ingesting stimulants before and\u00a0after\u00a0school may be altering their abilities (or maybe just their desire?) to do whatever the heck else they’re supposed to be doing.<\/p>\n
I don’t envy\u00a0the teacher facing this group in school.\u00a0\u00a0But wait\u00a0 – here comes a teacher to join the line.\u00a0 He’s obviously a favorite.\u00a0 All the kids let him cut in.\u00a0\u00a0Then they cluster around him to sip and chat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But\u00a0then he’d\u00a0have to be a coffee drinker, wouldn’t he, just to keep up?\u00a0\u00a0If the best\u00a0defense is an offense, then this\u00a0teacher’s best offense is\u00a0 – who will spell it for us today?\u00a0\u00a0 That’s right.\u00a0 C-a-f-f-e-i-n-e.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n