Irritable. Sluggish. Sleep-deprived.

An epidemic of sleep deprivation has plagued PHS students, leaving us more vulnerable to stress, anxiety and inability to perform in school. According to webmd.com, sleep deprivation can cause decreased performance and alertness, memory and cognitive impairment, relationship stress, poor quality of life, occupational injury, and even automobile injury. However, sleep deprivation can be prevented. We should be more responsible in order to maintain our sleeping patterns and prevent sleep deprivation. By responsible, I’m saying that we have the choice whether or not to improve our sleeping conditions and overall well-being, and it is our responsibility to make the right choices for ourselves.

As high school students, we tend to over commit to a multitude of activities in order to impress colleges. However, we often do not leave enough time for our own well being. If we prioritized our schedules and allotted specific time in the day to relax and focus on ourselves, we would immensely decrease the chances of sleep deprivation due to stress or lack of sleep due to a schedule filled with excessive activities. We’re only in high school once, and we should not overwork ourselves with activities that are solely for our resumes. And we cannot wait around for someone to lessen our schedules for us; we have to be proactive and make changes for ourselves. We cannot expect ourselves to be able to get schoolwork done, attend extracurriculars, and make time for friends throughout the week. Additionally, it’s easy for us to say, “it’s fine, I’ll just stay up late tonight and catch up on sleep over the weekend”, but in reality, this is not the case. We are wearing ourselves too thin. Rather than spending two hours on Facebook and an hour napping before doing schoolwork, we should be proactive and responsible in completing assignments earlier so we can get to bed earlier and obtain a longer night sleep. According to Tylenol.com, high school and college students are among the most sleep deprived people in the population. 60% are sleepy during the day and 30% fall asleep in class at least once a week. This is a habit that can be easily prevented through responsible actions. The National Sleep Foundation reported that teens ages 10-17 years need 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep a night, and that in 2009, only 31% of high school students reported getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night. This leads to unhealthy living patterns, and we must make a change.

I realize that we are bombarded with schoolwork, college applications, standardized test studying, extracurriculars, family, and friends. From first hand experience, I understand the reality of the immense umbrella of pressure we live under and the amount of pressure students can put on themselves. It is inevitable that in high school, everyone undergoes staying up late a few nights stressing over big projects. But we have to put things in perspective and prioritize. The most important thing is our well-being. I also understand that we cannot always jump right on our homework after school, because we need time to rest our brains after a seven hour school day. But this should mean lying in bed for a half hour or having quick chats with friends on Facebook, not spending the entire afternoon on Facebook and starting homework at 10pm. Sleep deprivation cannot be easily preventable in all cases, for many people suffer insomnia and simply cannot sleep. As a student who has experienced excessive over-commitment in high school, I have learned to prioritize the activities I genuinely enjoy and be proactive with my schoolwork in order to sleep enough. I notice an extreme difference in my performance in school when I have slept at least nine hours in a night.

To improve our sleeping routines, the National Sleep Foundation suggests these tips: go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning, engage in physical activity during the day, avoid large meals before bedtime, avoid caffeine close to bedtime, and find routines that help you sleep. It’s time for high school students to take responsibility for their schedules and make the right decisions in order to prevent sleep deprivation, better their own well-beings, and create a happier environment for us all.