The bell rings and students begin sifting toward their first-period classes to begin the day. Some wander from the student parking lot, the gym, the lunch room or straggling buses.

In their hands is a marvel of early human engineering, the cup. In those cups is a marvel of human agriculture, coffee.

To some, this sounds joyously close to a perfect world. To others, it is a recipe for disaster.

Coffee can be a very powerful tool to the unrested student, and in a world with AP this and AP that, a lack of rest is not uncommon. But is coffee OK in school? The answer, unfortunately, is no – at least, not beyond the cafeteria and down the halls.

There are three factors that contribute to making coffee more of a distraction at school than a positive force.

The first of these factors is the possibility of spills. The morning is the time of day that students would be most likely to have coffee in their hands. It is also one of the most crowded and congested moments of the school routine. Almost every student shuffles his or her way from the doors to the lockers and then to class. The likelihood of bumping into another student is increased during this time, and with that, the likelihood of dropping a cup of coffee increases as well. A spill is inevitable, so the question arises: What do we do with said spill?

Spilled coffee has to be cleaned up. Otherwise, it will become a hazard to other people. Some students would try to clean this mess themselves, which is a noble gesture, but one which will end up making them late for first period. The more debate-oriented student might try and bring to my attention that we have custodians here at First Flight and surely they could clean up the mess. In theory they could, but the job of students is to learn, not make other people’s jobs harder. By expecting custodians to clean up our messes we would be taking advantage of their hard work, and that would be a disservice.

The next problem that coffee drinkers might face is specific teacher rules. I’m not saying this to try and call out a specific teacher for some sort of unjust coffee ban. The opposite, in fact. If a teacher has a set of rules that includes coffee, they must have a good reason. Some teachers have classroom environments that are not fit for coffee. The most obvious example of this is a science lab where a spill can go from an inconvenience to a ruined test grade. Even in a normal classroom setting, the possibility for disaster is apparent. You might reach for your pencil and accidentally knock over your coffee, which then spills right onto your notes.

The final and most nefarious problem that arises without coffee regulation is how much easier it makes it for students to sneak alcohol into school. As the rule goes right now, the only drink allowed throughout the halls is water in a clear container. Water is easy to recognize, non-carbonated, clear and refreshing. Mixing some sort of undesirable solution in with water would change the consistency and be easy for teachers to spot, allowing them to help students not make poor decisions. The consistency of coffee is harder to tamper with, and on top of that, coffee cups are rarely clear. This makes it easier for misguided students to make the mistake of smuggling alcohol behind school doors.

These are the reasons why the coffee ban at school isn’t really such a bad thing but, in fact, a great way to keep everybody happy. Besides, if you really need your coffee fix in the morning, nobody is stopping you from enjoying it back at home before school.

Junior Mack Doebler can be reached at doeblerma0930@daretolearn.org.