I’d like to claim that teenagers receive too much hate regarding the time that they sleep. I recall one day my mom walked down the hall to wake me up. My mom said, “All you teenagers do is sleep.” Through the incessant nagging from my parents, complaining about the amount of sleep, I’ve concluded: “Teenagers’ sleep is vital to their health, physical and mental, as well as development”. Teenagers are found sleeping everywhere, in class, at home, and on the floor. The question is asked: why do teenagers seem to sleep so much?
From my personal experiences, I find myself yawning throughout the day. I yawn in the morning, yawn during second period, yawn again through third, even after school, my yawns lead into my sleep. Nevertheless, after sleeping, the cycle continues into the next day. In my junior year, I made a sleep log as an assignment for my AP Psychology class. I tracked the amount of sleep I got in my average day; my total sleep equaled 37 hours and 35 minutes for that week. According to Denise Picard, or as I knew her, “Ms. Picard,” teenagers should sleep for at least 9 ¼ hours a night, approximately 56 hours a week. It is truly an astonishing feat as a high school student to channel 8 hours of sleep along with the hours of homework, studying, sports, and other commitments their nights consist of. Additionally, for the typical teenager to get at least 9 hours and 30 minutes of sleep (taking into account 30 minutes for getting ready for the day) if they were to start school at 8:30 am, they would need to sleep by 10:30 pm. Teenagers typically accumulate a higher sleep debt—the total difference in the amount of sleep your body needs versus the amount your body gets—for more than just their physical commitments. The biological and cognitive maturation developed during adolescence is a big contributor to the amount of sleep that we teens require. Teenagers’ “… circadian rhythms—the body’s internal clock—are naturally shifted later compared to younger children and adults. As a result, their brains secrete melatonin (a hormone our bodies produce to spur sleep) later in the day. According to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the average amount of sleep per teenager is 7 to 7 ¼ hours. Sleep plays a pivotal role in the development of one’s cognitive ability for both short and long-term periods. The brain needs sleep to retain its cognitive function. During Non-Rem 3, our body exerts physical repair, the growth hormone, memory consolidation, etc., essentially allowing the body to recover. A lack of sleep decreases how much your body can recover. Overall, lack of sleep impacts one’s emotions, physicality, memory, and energy. I am a strong advocate for pushing the start of school back and slightly shortening the school day in order to facilitate excellence in academics, extracurriculars, and life for all.