Everyone needs to sleep, especially students at Providence Academy.
However, most students don’t get enough sleep to function well.
Without the necessary amount of sleep, a student’s ability to learn can suffer drastically. According to sleepfoundation.org, students who don’t get enough sleep often begin to lose their ability to function well as a student and a person.
According to sleepfoundation.org, “[sleep deprivation can] limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems. You may even forget important information like names, numbers, your homework or a date with a special person in your life.”
Students need sleep and most don’t get enough. The amount of studying, extracurricular activities and having a job often result in a student getting little to almost no sleep. Students need the same amount sleep as they did as children, at least nine hours.
“I get around five to six hours of sleep a night,” said Rachel Mohrman ‘16. “I have trouble falling asleep and also study for Advanced Biology a lot.”
According to the Center for Advancing Health, only about eight percent of high school students get a sufficient amount of sleep on an average school night. The other 92 percent suffer from sleep deficits that affect their help and ability to function. This study by the Journal for Adolescent Health found that sleep deprived teens often suffer from daytime drowsiness, depression, headaches and poor performance at school.
“I feel sad and tired [during school],” said Mohrman. “If I could get more sleep, life would be more joyful and I would be in a better mood.”
Even though most students know about the risks and problems that can occur due to a lack of sleep, many still don’t try to get more sleep. In fact, some students don’t get enough sleep because they want to do more studying or have other obligations like a sport or a job.
“I get home late because of sports,” said Tyler Tessmann ‘16. “When I get home, I usually have a lot of schoolwork to do.”
Tessmann said that, because of the amount of work that comes with playing a sport and studying, he doesn’t have a job during the school year. Tessmann also said that he knows other students that have jobs and because of this, they don’t get home until late.
In order for students to function to the best of their abilities they need sleep. The importance of sleep should never be overshadowed, and should always be considered a necessity.
Resources:
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep
http://www.cfah.org/hbns/2010/most-high-school-students-are-sleep-deprived