Do Newtown High School students get enough sleep on a daily basis? Are they able to sleep enough every night to do well at school the next day? Why are these students not getting enough sleep?
Many students at NHS do not get enough sleep on a daily basis, and this lack of sleep can affect their body and mind during the day.
Since school is the one place that students need to learn and work hard to interpret information and apply it to other situations to show a greater understanding, sleep deprivation can be harmful. If they cannot complete schoolwork to the best of their abilities, they will have trouble in school and will not be able to improve or get good grades, which is always important.
“We see a fair amount of overtired students. These students report to us that they are not able to concentrate in class and therefore are not as productive as they need or want to be,” NHS school nurse Karen Powell said.
There are many important negative effects of sleep deprivation that must be considered in order for students to stay healthy.
“Sleep is especially important for high school students because while sleeping, muscles are repaired, memory consolidation occurs and hormones are released that regulate growth and appetite,” Powell said.
There are also many permanent health risks that can come from being deprived of sleep. There can be an increased risk of heart disease, stroke or cancer, especially if one is obese or has a family history of these problems.
One of the main effects of sleep deprivation is obesity. When someone does not get enough sleep, the levels of leptin, a hormone that regulates fat, decreases while the hormone that regulates hunger, ghrelin, increases. The constant hunger, added together with the loss of fat regulation in the body can result in overeating and weight gain.
Although there are many negative health and social effects of sleep deprivation, there are also ways that being deprived of sleep can be prevented.
The best way feel re-energized and renewed for a long day at school is to simply get sleep, although there are other ways to stay awake.
“Students should just try to drink a lot of ice cold water in the morning… There’s so much evidence that if you can just hydrate right before you come to school, then throughout the day, you can feel a lot more alert,” NHS health teacher Melissa Zigmont said.
Studies have shown that high school students should be getting anywhere from nine to nine and a half hours of sleep every night. What high school students actually get, on average, is very different.
“I would say, from what I’ve found, high schoolers usually get around five hours of sleep. According to studies,they should be getting around nine hours of sleep. I think that they need sleep because they grow so much from their freshman year to their senior year, it’s such a drastic change and they need the sleep,” Zigmont said.
There are many other ways that students can make sure they get a good night’s sleep.
If students go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, while getting the right amount of sleep, the schedule can ensure that students get enough sleep every night to be rested the next morning.
By turning off screens and electronics anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half before going to sleep, it will be easier to fall asleep.
“One of the big things to do is to not look at any kind of device within an hour before going to sleep. Because back, centuries ago, there was no such thing as this artificial light, so people just went to bed in the darkness. So what happens is, it confuses their brains because they didn’t evolve with lights and iPhones. Just looking at light in general confuses our eyes that it’s the sun,” NHS freshman Zach Crebbin said.
Student should make sure that there are no electromagnetic fields in their bedroom while they are sleeping. Electromagnetic fields can disrupt the pineal gland and the melatonin production, which are two important bodily functions involved in regulating sleep.
These fields can be from wireless routers connecting to electronic devices, so simply turning off the wifi on electronic devices or turning off the wireless router can help sleep.
Some school districts are starting to change their schedules to accommodate for the high schoolers and allow them to get a proper night’s sleep. This change is favored by high school students.
“School systems could make the start time of school later and give more time for homework to be completed. This could be effective because we could go to sleep sooner and wake up later in the morning,” Nowak said.
Ultimately, sleep is important for the body. Without it, the body would not be able to function, nonetheless perform at its best for a long day at school. Getting enough sleep will help students cope throughout the day and approach each day as energized as the last.
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