“Most teens today are living with mild to severe sleep deprivation,” an article from the Child Mind Institute states. This may sound bizarre at first, but we all know it’s true. The issue persists yet students are in no rush to address it. Not long ago, I heard my friend’s 11-year-old sister say she slept at 1:00 a.m. the night before because she had a lot of homework. Interestingly enough, as a sophomore at DVHS, I found it difficult to empathize. Hearing similar stories from friends, cousins, and even someone four years younger than me, I wonder: What am I doing differently? Why is it that I don’t stay up past 10:30 at night to do schoolwork? Little did I know about DV culture and how it values academics over sleep.
As we grow older, the idea of being sleep-deprived is becoming increasingly normalized. Back when I was in elementary school, I had a strict bedtime and limited homework. However, now being a high school student, sleeping at extreme times turned into a competition rather than an alarming issue. “According to a 2010 large-scale study published in The Journal of Adolescent Health, a scant 8% of US high school students get the recommended amount of sleep,” the Child Mind Institute states.
I recall in one of my classes, we were asked what time we usually sleep at night. Most people said times ranging from 12:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Surprise, surprise. I suddenly raised my hand, and when called upon, I eagerly blurted out that I usually slept at 10:00 p.m. I found it amusing when everyone’s eyes turned to me, widening with surprise. It was as if I had claimed I was an alien from another planet.
So being a human who needs eight hours of sleep is strange, but pulling an all-nighter to finish schoolwork is understandable? I’m already lost. An article from the University of Toronto’s newspaper says, “Sleep deprivation can impair memory formation and the ability to learn.” Studying for a test late at night has proved to be ineffective, yet many continue to repeat this mistake to the point where it becomes a habit. It probably seems as if I’m an annoying parent, but I’m simply reiterating that losing sleep over school shouldn’t be a routine or considered normal.
“It’s not our fault we’re sleep-deprived, it’s because of our classes,” people say. “You’ll see what I’m talking about soon,” my older peers had told me. Despite the years passing, my perspective still hasn’t changed. I’m a sophomore at DVHS. And I see through the facade. Students blame the class for assigning an unreasonable amount of work whilst scrolling on social media for the majority of the evening. How is it fair to blame the school for the bad choices that we make constantly?
So Dougherty, before you start whining to your friend about how you had to stay up all night finishing up a history assignment, think about what that means. Perhaps you had a week to finish it but you procrastinated. Possibly, it was your fault that you lost sleep, and not the teacher’s. Learn to change rather than complain.
