Are Teenagers Getting Enough Sleep?
Study says kids don’t sleep enough, and many B-A students are proof
Sophomore Ethan McGee isn’t unusual in feeling the need for extra sleep during school hours.
March 5, 2015
With the amount of homework students have and other additional activities they participate in, is it any wonder that students aren’t getting enough sleep. Although most students have a lot of activities after school, some don’t go to bed at a decent time because they watch TV or go on twitter till 2:00 am.
According to Sumathi Reddy of the Wall Street Journal, school-age children should get at least ten hours of sleep every night and teenagers should get nine to ten hours of sleep.
But a recent study by the Associated Press found that more than half of children ages 15 to 19 would have to sleep two more hours a night to meet the required times. Some stated they don’t even get seven hours of sleep at night.
B-A freshmen Carlee Gathagan and Skylar Grossen are among those who don’t have enough sleep, getting three to four hours of sleep per night.
Some students like freshman Brooke Snyder have chores, homework, and has to wake up early so she has time to get ready for schools.
It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get at night, I get tired anyway.
— Jules Lusk
Due to the high amount of students not getting enough sleep at night, experts are wondering how this will affect student’s health and academic performance.
Junior Jules Lusk stated, “It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get at night, I get tired anyway.”
Experts also worry that many students could possibly have insomnia. Insomnia is habitual sleeplessness; the inability to sleep. Could insomnia be the reason or could it just be the fact that teenagers spend too much time one their phones.
Gathagan said, “I try to go to bed at a decent time but most of the time I just can’t fall asleep.”
While many students only get three to four hours of sleep students like Junior Ashley Dutrow get up to nine hours of sleep at night. Dutrow goes to bed at 9:00pm and wakes up at 6:00 am.
“I go to bed early because I have to get up early,” stated Dutrow.
To read more on this pressing issue click here.
