Most students in high school spend a lot of their free time studying, practicing for plays or playing sports. Teens should be getting 10 hours of sleep to function best during the day. This is a very unrealistic amount of time though. Most students in high school report that they barely get 8 hours of sleep a night. This can be very detrimental to their overall health and well being of a student.

Most students have irregular sleep patterns because during the weekend they either go to bed later, or sleep in until noon. During the week students wake up at any time from 5:30 to 7:00. For students that are involved in other sports and activities on top of an unnecessary homework load every night, they may not fall asleep until after midnight. The differences in times when students fall asleep and wake up affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of sleep they get. It is also proven that teenagers have sleep patterns that shift toward later times. That is why students often sleep in so late when they get the chance. It is also why it isn’t natural for students to fall asleep before 11:00 at night.

Some teens also have trouble sleeping because they suffer from various sleep disorders like narcolepsy, insomnia,or sleep apnea. Narcolepsy is when students are sleepy during the day and feel the need to take a lot of naps. Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep during the night. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that disrupts your sleep with frequent breathing pauses or shallow breathing.

If students do not get enough sleep then they have trouble learning during the day. They are not able to concentrate or solve problems effectively. It also leads to forgetfulness and having trouble remembering important information. Not getting enough sleep can also lead to more acne and weight gain. Inappropriate aggressive behavior like being impatient and disrespectful to family or friends is also an effect.

Thankfully at KHS, we get the weekly bonus of late start Wednesdays. Those few extra hours of sleep always seem to help. Since KHS isn’t going to change the starting time of school anytime soon, and students still have to show up for first block at 7:45 every morning, it would be a good idea to try to get to bed earlier. If everyone sleeps a little more, then we can all have more successful school days.

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep