The room is dark except for the blue light of his cellphone as the boy scrolls the night away. As the boy looks toward the top right corner of his screen, he sees numbers that make his heart sink: 5:30. He attempts to fall asleep, knowing he does not have long before he has to get ready for school. At school, he attempts to learn and participate, but his attention falters as his consciousness fades.
Sleep is a cornerstone of physical and mental health. It allows the body opportunity to recuperate and the mind to take a load off for a time. Sleep is especially helpful for high school students because good sleep is a springboard into adulthood, and it ensures concentration and productivity in the classroom. It is difficult doing much of anything if students are tired.
Many high school students are either unaware of the importance of sleep or frankly don’t care. A 2006 poll from the National Sleep Foundation cited in a Stanford Medicine article written by Ruthann Richter, reported that 87% of high school students do not get the recommended hours of sleep, 8-10 hours.
One of the most interesting factors is rooted in teenage biology. Richter discusses a study done showing a so-called sleep phase delay. Their circadian rhythm, commonly known as the internal biological clock, shifts to a later time, making it more difficult for teenagers to fall asleep before 11:00 p.m. The decision of when to sleep can be difficult for students when considering these factors: biological shifts, school start time, school work load, extracurricular activities, and the desire for a social life and free time outside of school. But what does a lack of sleep look like in a student?
Reid Crozier is a Mentor High school senior known for his immense height in comparison to his fellow seniors. Crozier takes multiple AP and honors classes and often expresses his disdain for homework, saying that it lurks around his house like a tiger on the prowl for prey. Despite the strong urge to avoid the work, he manages to conquer the tiger every day, mostly, with few wounds except those inflicted on his sleep.
Crozier says he often finds himself having to stay up later to finish his schoolwork, the blue light shining from the computer making his eyelids gently start to fall. Part of the reason that he does his homework so late is he is a busy guy with extracurriculars, work, and a desire to have a social life outside of an academic space. Crozier said that he averages about 5-6 hours of sleep, much lower than the recommended amount. He also said that he often finds himself tired during the school day; however, that feeling fades around 9-10 a.m. Instead of taking direct responsibility for this feeling, Crozier said that a later start time would benefit him and a majority of other students, allowing him to move further away from the tiger.
On the other side of the spectrum, there is junior Nathan Meckler. Meckler is about average height with shorter brown hair parted to the side. He did not talk about any extracurricular activities; however, he may as well be fending off 2 tigers in comparison to Crozier because he is taking 6 honors and AP classes. Despite this, he said that he manages 7.5 hours of sleep a night, which is significantly closer to the recommended. Meckler seems to be a more experienced tiger wrangler, saying that he rarely finds himself staying up later than normal to finish school work. Both also talked about their average bedtimes which are separated by about an hour. Meckler is on the earlier side, around 10:30 to 11:00 p.m.
Meckler also seems to be more excited about developing his educational prowess because he wakes up about an hour before he has to leave, and Crozier gives himself about 20 minutes usually. Finally, Meckler said he also rarely feels tired during the school day.
The comparison between these two AP students reveals the key to success: self discipline. Self discipline is a key factor because students should provide themselves with every opportunity to ensure focus during school and the energy to fight off the tiger that is homework.
Self discipline is more important than just choosing good times to sleep. It is also important to avoid energy drinks and other related caffeine-tainted beverages. Energy drinks and sodas are fine in moderation, but too much can be detrimental. Although these drinks seem like a rocket ship, because it’s fast, that rocket ship will crash into a tree if given too much fuel. This leads to the loss of the ability to focus, which energy is supposed to provide.
Meckler rarely partakes in energy or soft drinks, but on the other hand Crozier drinks a Coca-Cola every morning before his 1-2 class. And the difference between how productive they feel is outlined above, showing what Crozier could change.
The last important thing is phone usage; simply make sure that the cell phone is avoided about an hour before sleep. Crozier and Meckler both said their cellular devices hardly impact their sleep, but their trustworthiness on the subject is questionable.
Simply put, set a bedtime and a wake up time that is around 8-9 hours apart, and the ability to focus and be productive will increase. Go to bed.
