지역별 뉴스를 확인하세요.

많이 본 뉴스

광고닫기

기사공유

  • 페이스북
  • 트위터
  • 카카오톡
  • 카카오스토리
  • 네이버
  • 공유

[Best of 20 JSR] South Korea Implements Caffeine Ban in Schools

The 21 JSR Fall Semester has officially began! But before we begin premiering the great written works of our new student reporter articles, we here at JSR wanted to take a look back at the best of the previous semester. We’ve had our reporters write about a range of topics from the events happening in their community to personal opinions pieces, to things happenings nationwide and around the world. Our student editors worked diligently in pressing out Editor’s Columns that covered a broad range of topics as well.

Starting from the beginning of the 20 JSR Semester, these particular selections were made because they were prime examples of reporting within school and the community, making larger connections within society and internationally, and even introspection. It is our hope that the caliber of these articles are used as models of high performance that the student editors and reporters can strive towards.
We tip our hats to these editors and student reporters.

South Korea Implements Caffeine Ban in Schools

This article was originally published on September 18, 2018


A junior in high school living in South Korea, Bona Kim says that caffeine is often her best friend.

“School is stressful and I’m often tired,” said Kim, who has a seven hour school day that begins around 8 A.M. “I usually get an iced americano from our school’s cafe every day to keep myself awake. Otherwise, I have trouble making it through the long days of school and homework.”

E Ju Ro, Grade 11
Seoul International School

E Ju Ro, Grade 11 Seoul International School

With the overwhelming workload and academic pressure deeply ingrained in the Korean educational system, it is almost natural for some high school students to depend on a cup of coffee to keep themselves awake enough to succeed at school.

Considering the popularity and significance of vending machine coffee on campuses, it was especially shocking for some students and teachers when the South Korean government issued a caffeine ban in all schools this summer.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, all vending machines and any other cafes at both primary and secondary schools will stop their sale of coffee products by Sept. 14. A ministry official told the Korea Times that "the revision aims to create healthy eating habits among children and teenagers.”

South Korea’s coffee consumption is among the highest of Asian countries. Since 1990, the nation’s coffee consumption has doubled, largely due to the introduction of large coffee franchises like Starbucks. The ministry reported that coffee can have particularly negative health effects on teenagers, such as dizziness or sleep disorders.

While highly caffeinated drinks such as energy drinks or even coffee milks are already banned at schools, many are still sold in vending machines for teachers. Yet under the new law, both students and adults (teachers) will be unable to purchase caffeinated products on campus. Some have questioned whether the government should be banning coffee from teachers as well, who are adults and thus should be more in control of their own dietary concerns.

Some have even questioned the banning of coffee from students as well. South Korea’s reliance on coffee may not be the problem, some say - rather, it may simply be a manifestation of the true issue at hand, an excessively stressful and competitive atmosphere.

“I think the caffeine ban is missing the point,” said Joshua Lim, another high school student living in Seoul. “Instead of outright banning coffee, the government should maybe work to prevent a reliance on caffeine by lessening the pressure of our educational systems. Students won’t stop relying on coffee, whether they buy it on or off campus, until the root of the problem is addressed.”


Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)


많이 본 뉴스





실시간 뉴스