Sleep is very important for everyone’s health, especially teenagers. Most teens need about 9 hours of sleep, but many don’t get that amount. Many high school teens are tired and exhausted in the early mornings because they struggle to fall asleep before 11:00 pm. There are a number of factors, like technology use, listening to a song, and having it stuck in your head, or late-night study sessions. “Most nights I listen to music before bed. I normally have one stuck in my head before I fall asleep,”-Tyler Tobar.
With a lack of sleep, students often struggle to pay attention in class, and their grades begin to slip. Scrolling on phones late at night makes this case even worse, as the light from phones tells our brains to stay awake. If students are not getting the rest they need, they tend to also have higher stress levels.
Sleep deprivation can also make school life feel way harder than it needs to be. Without 8-10 hours of sleep, the brain’s emotions start to turn minor stressors into catastrophes and cause anxiety to spike even when the situation isn’t that dire. People also tend to have less motivation to do anything, even being social.
Some solutions to this are being responsible and limiting screen time when it gets late at night. Also some schools have a late start day that gives students an extra hour of sleep or time to wake up before school. This little boost can make a big impact on how much energy students have for the school day.
