Grande mess

Grande+mess

The unholy smell of the earthly and crummy coffee beans that have been turned into a steamed milk mess of pumpkin spice latte traveled up through my nose and completely stunted my smell for the whole day. Everywhere I went-my house, my school, the baseball field, and back to my house-all I could smell was the awful pumpkin spice. It was as if I could see a disgusting greenish, brownish color coming off the steam of that latte, how could that be pleasing to those with actual taste buds? This was the effect of just one Starbucks coffee. Imagine being surrounded by many other students with a Starbucks drink stuck to their hands or on their desk table. It’s not good! Not good at all! This is one reason why Starbucks isn’t beneficial for high school students, it’s a distraction.

Going to Starbucks on a daily basis can have serious health effects. “If your daily routine includes swinging by Starbucks for a quick latte, you may be well on your way to diabetes, obesity, or both. A grande café mocha with breve sends 580 calories and 40 grams of fat down your system. The recommended calorie intake is about 2,000, which means that one cup has roughly the same calories as a full meal, without the nutritional value,” (Starbucks, Coffee, and Your Health: Bucking The Starbucks Experience, par. 9). This can be very unhealthy because of how much sugar is going into their body and how many calories they would have to burn to not become overweight or even worse diabetic or obese.

Some people think students going to Starbucks often will not affect their performance at school because going to Starbucks is just like going to any other place. Sydni Ricketts, a student at Wilsonville High School, said “Everyone goes to Noodles [and Company], people go to Qdoba, people go to Chipotle, and then people go to Starbucks to get Coffee. And they have no-caffeine drinks, so you just get whatever.” She points out that anyone who says Starbucks is affecting someone’s school performance could make that case for any other food or beverage place. Although, other people believe going to Starbucks can affect their performance at school because they leave during class just to get their daily fix. “The more school, the better. Of course, it’s going to help you academically,” said Keenan Sanford, another student at Wilsonville High School. Those kids that skip school to go to Starbucks will fall behind the students that choose to stay in school and learn because they are spending less time in the classroom learning and more time goofing off with a cup of coffee in their hands.

Another issue with this matter is the globalization of Starbucks, even in suburbs like Wilsonville, Oregon. Some people, like Ms. Ricketts, like it because it is “handy”, considering there is a Starbucks to go to, no matter what part of town you are in. “It’s very popular. So, people open them up, and people enjoy it. You go anywhere in Wilsonville, there’s probably going to be a Starbucks there,” she did mention, however, that it could be annoying to some when there are too many Starbucks’ in one place. “It’s ridiculous,” said Mr. Sanford, about the fact that there are 6 Starbucks in Wilsonville. Last year, they took down the Pizza Hut that used to be inside Target in Wilsonville and replaced with another Starbucks. Go figure.

Prices are always a big thing that comes up when you think of Starbucks. While a lot of other states have high prices, most places are not as frequently debated as Starbucks. It’s simple, for some people the price is right and that the coffee speaks for itself. “I mean, it’s quality coffee, so I don’t complain about it,” said Ms. Ricketts. “If your coffee, most people are willing to spend like 5 to 6 dollars on a coffee. I mean, that’s just how it is,” she said. While others think they just don’t give you enough coffee to be that expensive. “Okay, prices at Starbucks are too pricey for one, and they need bigger servings,” said Mr. Sanford. He even had a plan to change this. “To be honest, they should just vary them. Just vary them by day, do it like gas prices. Keep it like, for a small coffee, one day have it $1.50, next day $1.60, next day $1.40. That’s the way they will make more money. Bring in more customers if it varies by day.”

The facts are right there. Students with a Starbucks in class create a distraction to the other students around them. Going to Starbucks daily can affect the performance in school for those students. The amount of Starbucks’ on a local to nationwide scale is obnoxious, and so is the price for everything there.