Last week, my son’s elementary school principal sent out a message that honestly stopped me in my tracks. Apparently, there’s been an increase in kids bringing and sharing Alani Nu drinks at school. Yes, the same bright, pretty cans we see all over TikTok and Instagram. We may even drink them. It’s concerning how quickly the influencer craze has trickled down to the elementary school level. And I get it; kids want to fit in. They want to carry the same cute drink their friends have, the on that looks fun and is trendy. But the truth is, these aren’t harmless juices. They’re energy drinks packed with caffeine and kids’ bodies aren’t built for that. The average Alani Nu has 200mg of caffeine, the equivalent of four cups of coffee or one Grande Iced Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso from Starbucks.
According to this article, the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Pediatricians advise against caffeine for children under 12 and against any use of energy drinks for all children and teens.” Not only is it dangerous for our children to drink caffeine, but a lot of kids are on medications for ADHD, asthma, or cold medicines, and mixing caffeine with those can cause dangerous side effects like increased heart rate, anxiety, and trouble sleeping. The problem is, kids don’t realize any of this. They just see a cool-looking can, and when they start sharing with friends, it gets even worse because they have no clue what medications someone else might be on or how it might affect them.
As parents, it’s our job to protect our children, even when it means being the “bad guy” when we take away something that makes them feel cool or included. At the end of the day, this isn’t just about an energy drink. It’s about how much influence social media and influencer culture have on our kids. They see girls like Megan Moroney or their favorite TikTok creators sipping Alani, and they want to feel grown-up and included. But that’s where we come in.
We have to be our child’s anchor in a world that is constantly telling them they’re not enough: not pretty enough, not cool enough, or not popular enough…unless they have the right jacket on or drink in their hand.
It’s our job to remind our kids that fitting in doesn’t mean copying everything they see online or what their friends do. It means being confident in who they already are. Our girls and boys need to hear that their worth isn’t measured by the $3 can they hold in their hand, but by the kindness they show and the effort they give to the person they are becoming. Influencer culture has made it so easy for kids to believe that what they see online is real life, that a pretty can, skin care routine, or outfit somehow equals happiness. But what they don’t see are the filters, collabs, and hours of edits behind every TikTok or Instagram post. Our kids are trying to measure up to a version of life that isn’t even real, and that’s a heavy weight for young hearts to carry.
It’s important we guide our children through a world that is more complicated than anything we faced growing up. It means understanding that life feels harder for them in ways we didn’t experience, and then holding their hands while we help them navigate it safely and confidently.
