Yahoo News Teacher quits profession over energy drinks that ‘caused pupils to become aggressive in lessons’
A teacher concerned about the effects of energy drinks on her pupils has decided to quit the profession altogether.
Laura Douglas claims that drinks like Red Bull and Monster have made children aggressive in lessons and have ruined teaching for her.
The 38-year-old said that she had been taunted and sworn out by children who had swigged the drinks before coming into the classroom.
She told The Mirror: “Kids come to classes clutching tins of energy drinks, but if you ask them to throw them away or put them in their locker you get told, ‘F*** off, Miss, I need it. It’s my lunch’.
“Others would say, ‘You can’t take it off me. My mum bought it’.”
The former religious studies teacher, from St Albans, added: “I will not set foot in another classroom to teach.”
Energy drinks high in caffeine and sugar will be banned from being sold to under 16s in Waitrose from March, while campaigners continue to have the rule enforced everywhere.
A 250ml can of Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine and 27g of sugar, while Lucozade Sport (500ml) has an unspecified amount of caffeine and 18g of sugar.
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Guidelines state that a 10-year-old should not consume more than 99mg of caffeine or 24g of sugar per day.
Lucozade said that their energy drinks “are not marketed at children, nor are they high-caffeine drinks”.
Chris Keates, from teachers’ union NASUWT, urged the Government to take action, saying that the profession “can’t afford to have teachers driven out”.
