Sleep in High School

Sleep+in+High+School

Alex Steadman

Within Whitney Young High School students, sleep is very dire. Many students feel that school obligations influences how much sleep they get a night. Students, including myself, have work and family obligations outside of school; the added homework and studying takes up much of their time out of school, this causes them to miss out on the recommended nine and a half hours of sleep by doctors. Diane Nguyen ‘19 says, “I get three to six hours of sleep a night but school work isn’t the main cause. I work full-time but I always make sure to get my homework and studying done regardless.” Angelina Hutto ‘19 mentions, “I get little sleep because I have to wake up at five thirty in the morning to get to school, meaning it also takes me a long time to get home to school. When I get home I have to do my usual four hours of homework, then do my other obligations at home. I don’t fall asleep usually till 11 at night.” Other students have this issue as well, but for some, schoolwork isn’t as laborious. Julia Macellaio ‘20 says, “Usually, I sleep from like ten to six. Homework isn’t keeping me up though. After being at school and doing homework for most the day, I watch TV after for a while at night.” Every student has their own workload due to the classes they are taking, but sleep is important and vital for everyone. Students need to make sure they get enough sleep by prioritizing homework load every night, and trying to complete as much as they can with downtime at school. Help from teachers and the administration could include a more suitable, spread out workload for students. Giving assignments in advance would allow students to have more time to do them throughout a course of days, instead of cramming to get it done in one night.