By: Kiran Garg, Jenna Marcus, Rielly Hennessy, Saman Hussein
Students at Williamsville East are well-known for responding to “How are you?” with “I’m tired.” Sleep-deprivation has become an issue for teenagers all around the country, and students at Williamsville East have fallen victim to this epidemic.
According to a poll of 184 students at Williamsville East, only 5 percent of students are getting the recommended number of uninterrupted hours of sleep per school night. Health professionals and sleep specialists have continually changed their recommendations for teenage sleep, and they currently agree that 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep is ideal. This is not only concerning in short-term performance, but this could also have several ramifications on student health in the long term. With only five percent of Williamsville East getting the proper amount of sleep, we are further investigating this issue in the search for a solution.
Students are under enormous pressures to take difficult classes, and also be well rounded. This means practicing sports, instruments, and participating in clubs. “For some of us, it’s hard to finish our homework early with everything going on in our lives. School alone is hard enough, and between musical rehearsal, clubs, and lots of homework and studying, I usually find myself in bed late and tired throughout the day,” said sophomore Gillian Marcus.
However, many students argue that it is not a matter of time management skills, and instead it is a problem with workload and testing. “I don’t think school getting pushed back would make a big difference for a lot of kids. Either way, we’ll have the same amount of homework and studying and after school activities. For many high school students, the issue isn’t our bodies or being irresponsible,” said an anonymous student. Many other students feel that they are overwhelmed by their classes and schedules, including another sophomore, Rachel Xue, who said, “I already get home late as it is. It would be hard to push the time back even further because than I would just be up doing homework later.”
Students at East are known for challenging themselves, which often means taking the most rigorous courses available to them. This desire to excel academically sometimes infringes on their sleep.
On the other hand, many believe that students have the capabilities to handle a busy course load and a demanding sleep schedule. Mr. Nogoski said, “If students don’t procrastinate and work a little each night, they won’t have to stay up studying for exams.” He stressed the importance of time management skills and ensuring that procrastination won’t be necessary. Senior Grace Schaefer said, “Throughout high school, I’ve found that I can get enough sleep if I manage my time properly. This usually includes doing homework and studying on weekends and every weeknight. It’s hard work, but in the end it’s totally worth it. Being exhausted and sleepy is no way to go through the school day.” Guidance counselor Mr. Weber said, “I think students need to develop a schedule to give them the right amount of sleep. This requires minimizing screen time and other distractions before bed.” However, some students feel that in order in order to get all their work done while still getting enough sleep, it would take most of their free time. Having time to relax and do the things one enjoys are part of being healthy and growing. “Spending time on my phone helps me keep in touch with friends who have moved, develop relationships, learn about new things, and help others. I’ve learned so much about the world from sites like Tumblr and YouTube. In order to finish all my work and be able to do these things, I need to sacrifice some sleep,” said a sophomore at East.
New studies have suggested that screen time before bed has decreased the average amount of sleep in teenagers by almost 20 minutes a night. The light from the screen, which is often an iPhone or laptop, meddles with our circadian rhythms, and therefore deprives us of almost an half hour of sleep. Junior Prerna Singh said, “I usually sit in my bed scrolling through my phone for about 30 minutes before sleeping. My phone is a huge distraction that keeps me from going to sleep, but I had no idea it was causing my circadian rhythms to become messed up!”
Many other students have tampered with their biological clocks via napping. Senior Felix Chin said, “When I come home from school, I eat a snack, do a little homework, and go to sleep. After about 5 hours, I wake up at 11. I eat dinner and do my homework until 2 or 3, and then I sleep until 6. I get my 8 or 9 hours, though.” Though his sleep schedule may seem shocking, it is not uncommon at Williamsville East. According to a Harvard University study, napping could only be counted as sleep if both REM and NREM sleep was entered during the nap. In addition, the study stated that naps should be in increments of 90 minutes, otherwise the napper would not feel well-rested. Experts still maintain that uninterrupted sleep is the best form of sleep for teenagers.
No matter the cause of the lack of sleep at Williamsville East, there are negative effects in the short and long term. Lack of sleep can lead to troubles learning, listening, concentrating, and solving problems, make children more prone to pimples, lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior, cause teenagers to eat unhealthily, contribute to illness, and heighten the effect of drugs. As a result of these deficiencies, teenagers are prone to further dangers, such as car crashes due to behind the wheel drowsiness. Senior Disha Yellayi said, “I definitely notice how lack of sleep affects me. I find it hard to concentrate for tests or to pay attention to my classes. I have to make sure I won’t doze off.”
Over a long period of time, lack of sleep can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, psychiatric problems, attention deficit disorder, mental impairment, childhood growth retardation, and poor quality of life. “Sleep is important as a major component of good health. A lack of sleep, or a poor quality of sleep, can sabotage a person’s health goals and impair their safety. Many patients would have had to spend less time in a hospital or ER if they discovered the importance of a good night’s sleep. We tend to treat sleep as a health non-entity instead of a vital component to a healthy lifestyle,” said Brendan Duffy from the St. Charles Sleep Disorder Center.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, teens’ natural sleep cycle puts them in conflict with school start times. Most high school students find it very hard to pay attention early in the day, and have difficulty getting up in the morning. “Even if I get a good amount of sleep the night before, I still find it extremely hard to get out of bed in the morning. If I don’t set two alarms, there’s no way I could wake up on time,” said sophomore Suhina Kanapathipillai.
During their high school years, teenagers are naturally programmed to fall asleep around 11pm. Starting school at around 7:30am is in conflict with their natural wake-up time, and will make them sleepy all day. Many students support schools starting later in the morning. Sophomore Rachel Parks said, ”If school started any hour later, that would extend my sleep time so I wouldn’t be so tired at school and be able to focus more in class.”
Schools around the country that have set later bell times find that students do not go to bed later, but instead get an average of five more hours of sleep per week. When schools start around 9am, enrollment and attendance improves. Parents and teachers in these districts have stated that their teens are more alert and in better moods. Later school start times have been shown to decrease depression and visits to the nurse’s office.
However, many students and faculty of Williamsville East feel that earlier school start times will not fix the sleep problem, and could even make it worse. Mrs. Taberski, the school social worker said, “ I think the school starting time is perfect. If school started later, than the students who have sports or curricular activities after school will have to be up late and thats not healthy.” Guidance Counselor Mr. Weber agreed and stated, “If the time got changed to start school earlier, all it would do is just change kids patterns of when they proceed to go to bed.”
According to studies around the country, high schools should ideally start classes around 9am and students should get about 8.5 hours of sleep per night. Students would go to sleep around 11pm in accordance with their biological clocks, and would wake up well-rested and energetic to start their day.
Clearly, students at East aren’t getting eight or more hours of sleep. In fact, 94% of students get less than eight hours, while 65% of students get less than six. This problem is more complicated than changing just one part of the school day and requires an investment by all parties to develop a more effective schedule so that students are less stressed, still able to participate in school events, and get good, solid sleep.
