School bans the likes of Red Bull and Monster claiming they cause ‘bad behaviour, health problems and BED-WETTING’
High caffeine drinks are said to have sparked classroom brawls while some kids 'drank them for breakfast'
A SCHOOL has banned energy drinks after blaming them for classroom brawls, pupil exclusions, and BED-WETTING.
Headteacher Melvyn Lynch hopes that flushing out the high caffeine drinks will improve the behaviour of pupils and their ability to learn.
He claims some of the kids at Forfar Academy in Angus, Scotland, have been glugging energy drinks for breakfast.
Any student seen drinking a can of fizz such as Red Bull, Monster, and Rock Star will now have it confiscated.
The ban came into force this morning with all parents of the school's roughly 1,200 pupils having received letters to make them aware.
The moves come amid tougher Government guidelines on the drinks and calls for them not to be sold to under-16s.
A growing number of schools across the country have started putting the bans in place.
In December 2014 Haydock High School in Merseyside told how detentions plummeted by a third after they banned the drinks.
The school's move came after Government advisers warned the products make kids hyperactive and difficult to control.
Mr Lynch said he hoped the Forfar Academy ban would encourage parents to "have a conversation" about high caffeine products.
He said: "There is certainly a group for whom this is their first drink of choice, and for some a can of high energy drink is their breakfast."
In his letter to parents, he warned of "health risks", claiming consumption of the drinks can lead to "insomnia, anxiety issues, headaches, nausea, heart palpitations, abdominal pain, Type 2 diabetes and bed-wetting".
Mr Lynch's letter stated: "Rather than helping pupils stay alert they can result in young people falling asleep during the day due to problems with sleep at night-time.
"It is our opinion that the drinks are a danger to the health of our young people and that they contain no nutritional benefits.
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"In additional to these health risks, we are also extremely concerned about the effect these drinks are having on the behaviour of our young people.
"They can cause conflict with staff when pupils are advised that they should not be consuming these drinks in classes.
"We have also had occasions where pupils who have consumed energy drinks have been involved in more serious incidents that have led to exclusion.
"Whilst energy drinks are not solely to blame for this indiscipline, we believe that they are a contributory factor."
An Angus Council spokesman said: "While a decision on their consumption on school grounds would be a matter for individual schools, we support moves that provide our young people with the relevant information about what they are consuming."
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman added: "Cutting down on sugary drinks which contain no nutritional benefits is one of the most important ways of reducing sugar intake."
In January teenager Dion Parratt from Kettering in Northamptonshire told how drinking five cans of energy drinks a day has had a devastating effect on her life.
Her love for caffeinated drinks left her with a severe heart problem and low blood pressure which causes her to pass out.
She also believes her excessive consumption of the drinks triggered two miscarriages.