Students at a Perry County school are being told to leave the energy drinks at home.

Parents and guardians of students at Robinson Elementary and Combs were told.

Under a new policy, energy drinks would no longer be allowed in the classroom.

Principal James Fugit said the ban was put in place over concerns about health and focus.

He said students showed signs of restlessness, difficulty concentrating and even headaches or stomach discomfort after consuming the energy drinks.

He's encouraging students to bring water, juice or a school appropriate beverage.

A pediatrician we spoke with from Norton's Children's Hospital says children under the age of 12 should not be consuming the energy drinks.

She outlines the potential health risks associated with the drinks.

In today's medical news, either one of the main things you think about with those energy drinks is that relatively high caffeine content in those drinks.

So for comparison, an energy drink has probably like 80mg of caffeine per serving.

And most of those, like, you know, tall cans are two servings.

So they're getting like 160mg of caffeine in the one container of the energy drink.

And just for comparison's sake, like a soda is between like 30 and 40, milligrams of caffeine.

So it's, quite, quite a bit more, you know, caffeine than they would be consuming in, in a drink that most children have probably consumed.

The other thing about the the energy drinks is it's not only the caffeine content, but there's typically a large sugar content as well, and then multiple other stimulants, but that probably really haven't been studied, in children as far as their safety profile, is concerned.

So all of those things kind of lead to this like compounding effect of like multiple things within that one.

Can that have negative consequences, you know, as far as the, the safety and the, the medical side effects, there's really, no studies that say that any amount of caffeine is safe in a child less than 12.

So, like, there's not necessarily a federal guideline, but the the general recommendation is that children less than 12 really should not be consuming caffeine.

And then in the teenagers, the 12 to 18 year olds, the recommendation is to limit to less than about like 100mg of caffeine.

Health wise, we do see a lot of issues with like the hyperactivity.

So that may be where the focus question, was coming into play.

Can, get, you know, you've had too much caffeine.

You get that jittery feeling, you feel a little anxious.

And so for sure could be distracting in that sense.

In the classroom, if we're if we're getting the caffeine jitters, we can also get nausea and a poor appetite, from caffeine.

And then, like, having the caffeine on an empty stomach just kind of further exacerbates all of these.

The side effects of the caffeinated beverages kids can get, like, headaches, dizziness, dehydration.

And then we definitely see issues with trouble sleeping, which is a problem for a lot of people, but then further exacerbates the issues.

Paying attention the next day, if you didn't sleep well, if your kids are asking for the energy drinks, I would strongly recommend against that.

Just say no.

It's one of those, like, slippery slopes if you let them have it this time, they're going to ask for it again, the next time.

And I also encourage parents to think about the example you're setting for your children with what you're drinking.

As well.

If they see that you are consuming the energy drinks or even, you know, large amounts of soda, they're going to think that's what they should drink.

So thinking, am I putting forth an example to my kid that reflects what I want them to do?

If I want them to drink water, then I need to be, you know, drinking water.

As well.

At least one other Kentucky school, Lincoln County Middle School, has a policy banning energy drinks in the classroom.