Evan Sperlinga
The Steps to Success
It’s that time of year again. Students and teachers are going back to school and the summer is coming to an end. This means there is no longer staying up until midnight every night and getting to sleep in every morning. The alarm clock is dusted off and placed in our bedroom once again. But where does all this sleep deprivation come from? Student’s lack of sleep results from waking up in the early hours of the morning, sports and clubs after school, and homework from main and elective courses
Students in high school are suppose to have 8 ½ to 9 hours of sleep every night in order to perform daily tasks the next day according to the National Sleep Foundation. It is very difficult for Wilmington High students to get these essential hours of sleep because of the early starting times! Classes in the school begin at 7:40 AM and end at 2:05 PM. Because of this early starting time, students often have to wake up at about 6 AM or earlier. Some students need to take a shower, put some food in their stomach, get ready to go, and catch a bus. They have to do this all in such a small amount of time and being tired on top of that does not help get those necessary tasks done. A study by Teen Health says that “Teens who fall asleep after midnight may still have to get up early for school, meaning that they might squeeze in only 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night.” A simple change in order for students to get the essential hours of sleep is to just push start times ahead an hour or two more! Going to school around 9 AM or 10 AM would allow students to get an extra hour or two of sleep at night and would let students get 8 ½ to 9 hours. This would help students feel more awake in the morning and would allow for students to succeed in their classes. A study by the National Institutes of Health performed a math test on students. The test said that “The group that got eight hours of sleep before tackling the problem was nearly three times more likely to figure out the rule than the group that stayed awake at night.” With more hours of sleep, Wilmington High students would be more alert in their classes and test scores would increase dramatically!
Many teenagers at Wilmington High are student-athletes as well! Sport practices are held right after the school day ends. Practices usually last for two hours or more depending on the sport and are held every single day of the week. In order for these students to play at the best of their ability they need to have had the necessary hours of sleep. If students did not get enough sleep the night before, they may have been tired for the whole school day and then going to sports afterwards on top of that is just exhausting and not healthy. Coaches expect their players to play at their top ability every day and being tired will not help achieve that goal. Teen Health says that “Lack of sleep damages teens' ability to do their best in athletics.” Practices at Wilmington High are held every day which can exhaust students and not leave them any energy when they get home. A way to solve this problem is to simply shorten the practice from two or more hours to just a little over an hour. This would let students get home at a reasonable hour, get their homework done and go to bed at an earlier time. Just an hour of extra sleep at night can truly benefit student-athletes. Kids Health claims that “Sleep helps keep us physically healthy, too, by slowing the body's systems to re-energize us for everyday activities.” Cutting down an hour of practice every day would help these students get another hour of sleep at night and would result in a better performance on the field. 
Then there is the favorite, homework. Students usually have about 2-3 hours of homework a night, depending on their classes says The Huffington Post. This on top of other daily tasks does not help students get their essential hours of sleep. Some students attend to clubs or play sports after school and then have to stay up into the long hours of night to get their homework done before the next day. A way to solve this problem is for teachers to reduce the homework they give or give students more than one night to get their homework done. This would allow students to spread their homework out over a period of a couple days. This solution would help students get to bed much earlier and would help them get the required hours of sleep to remain alert and healthy for the next day. This small change in the duration and amount of homework could help students with their hours of sleep dramatically. These changes could allow for students to get all of their homework done and get the sleep they need.
Sleep is one of the most necessary things for students in high school. The amount of hours of sleep a night is often reduced by the early start time of school, sports and clubs, and homework. In order to remain healthy and alert students should get 8 ½ to 9 hours of sleep at night. For this to happen, the start of school should be pushed ahead by an hour or two, sports/clubs should be cut down by an hour, and homework should be spread out over the course of a few days or lessened in its entirety. Sleep is essential for students to be successful in all of their daily activities and tasks. These suggested changes in a student’s day are the steps to success in their lives.
Perle, Elizabeth. "High School Homework: Are American Students Overworked?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Nov. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"Teens and Sleep." Sleep for Teenagers. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"TeensHealth." How Much Sleep Do I Need? N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"Sleep – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs." The Chart RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
"Teenage Sleep Requirements, Lack of Sleep, Ensuring Teens Get Enough Sleep." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
"Sleep – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs." The Chart RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
"Teenage Sleep Requirements, Lack of Sleep, Ensuring Teens Get Enough Sleep." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
"
Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Teen Sleep: Why Is Your Teen so Tired?" Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment