Just a few days ago, the city of Muharraq, along with all the people of Bahrain, was shaken by painful news; A boy who was only sixteen years old, who died after he took two devices from one of the famous energy drinks. The boy did not complain of illness, and no one expected that hours of play and staying up will end with a disaster that cries a family and caught society.
What happened can not be considered a passing incident, but rather a warning bell to wake us all, the families, officials and civil society institutions, from the state of underestimation that we deal with these dangerous drinks, and to start a move at various levels to protect our children from these time bombs.
Energy drinks, of all kinds and names, are marketed to give them strength and activity, but in fact they steal from the bodies of their users more than they give, very large doses of caffeine, sugars and stimulants that turn inside the bodies of children and adolescents into time bombs that threaten the heart and nerves and destroy sleep and mental health, and if the adults themselves suffer from their effects, according to many medical reports, How is the case with small bodies that are still in the process of growth?
Although Bahraini law is clear on this issue; Where it is forbidden to sell energy drinks for those under 18 years, and impose financial fines of up to two thousand dinars on the violators, but the important question that imposed itself here; Where is the oversight? Who monitors small stores and “refrigerators” that sell these products indifferently? And who holds the restaurants and cafes that you deal with as if they were just a box of juice? In fact, according to what I see and many people see, many of the outlets do not apply the law, as if our children’s life is cheap or that the profit achieved is more important than the future of our youth.
The required move is not the government’s responsibility alone; Rather, it is the battle of society in all its institutions and members. Parents must be the first line of defense, and schools must enhance awareness of the seriousness of these products, and the media must reveal the facts without courtesy or consideration of commercial interests, because the lives of our children are more expensive than companies’ profits and more important than every advertisement promoting a drink that may be a killing tool.
The death of the boy in Muharraq is not only a family tragedy, but rather an appeal to everyone that tightening censorship is no longer an option but a duty, and this recklessness stopped the life of young people.
What raises concern is what a study of the University of Bahrain indicated that about 16% of Bahrainis, most of whom are young people between 15 and 24 years old, consume energy drinks regularly, while about 20% of this category consumes energy drinks on a daily basis.
