During the school year, students have different schedules. Students are often forced to change their sleeping habits to accommodate this. Students with various activities such as sports, jobs, and clubs outline what their sleep habits are like.
“I’m involved with football, basketball, and track, but right now I’m in football. I’m usually in bed by 10,p.m. but I don’t fall asleep until like 12 a.m. and I wake up at 6 a.m. every day,” senior CJ Buffalo said.
At times, especially during the fall, some students find a good rhythm such as junior Ady Klug, who participates in StuCo.
“I’m in StuCo and I do track and powerlift. Outside of school I’m a lifeguard, that’s a summer job,” Klug said. “I’m usually asleep by 10:30, and then I wake up around 6:30 every day. I think it’s pretty solid, I just wish I could wake up later.”
Sports and clubs tend to force students to sleep and wake up on a certain schedule. For other students, their jobs and commitments can come in the way of their sleep schedule. This especially applies to senior Edgar Garcia.
“Now, with my new updated schedule, I’m working 32 hours a week on top of school … it stays the same schedule Saturday through Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday off,” Garcia said. “I get out of work at 10:30 and get home. I’d say by 12:30 I’m finally relaxed enough to hit the hay. Right now I’ve been waking up around 5:30 to shower.”
Some students knew what they needed to change in order to help their sleep, mentioning going to sleep earlier while others opted to sleep in later. Many are restricted to their sleep schedules and depend on other means to get their sleep. A large group acknowledges the poor sleep schedule and tries to modify the times they get to sleep using outside help, but distractions can often get in the way.
“I’ve been working towards that [improving the sleep schedule] actually. I’ve been taking melatonin at 10:45 trying to go to sleep by 11:00, but y’ou know Tiktok, it gets interesting,” Garcia said.
Some students take a different approach, often using naps throughout the day to fill the need. Even if that means taking a nap during school to help make it to the end.
“Usually on black days I have a free hour, so I’ll go home and take a nap. Sometimes it depends on how my day goes, like if it’s been boring or exciting,” Buffalo said.
This can be helpful for many but can be seen as a detriment to many teachers. Teachers specifically talk about distractions in the classroom.
“When a teacher plans a lesson for 85 minutes and students sleep through a portion of it, then those students are missing out on significant learning. This makes it difficult for the teacher to meet the needs of all of the students in the room. Some students have had an opportunity to learn all of the material and others slept through the learning opportunities.” math teacher Erica Rickard said.
Most teachers did understand the importance of sleep. A safe or organized environment along with responsibilities, often time being non-school sponsored, makes sleeping in class important for some.
“Everyone knows teenagers need more sleep than most, but they don’t always get it. This could be for a variety of reasons, even for some that are personal,” business teacher Andrew Tovar said. “If it means they get to sleep in a peaceful environment, even for a bit, I’m fine with it. You never know what a person’s going through.”
