Students Exchange Sleep for Homework
by Nick Mourtoupalas ‘13
Arrive home from school at 2:40. Grab a microwavable pizza from your freezer. Be confident that if homework is started 30 minutes earlier than usual, there may be a slim chance to just possibly have some free time at the end of the day. Suddenly, 11:30 p.m. is knocking at the door and a dent has barely been made in the work pile. Some resort to tears. Some simply give up. Others aim for the all-nighter.
The all-nighter, the common practice by students to work late into the night rather than sleep, leaves students sleepy-eyed and waddling clumsily to class where they desperately try to stay awake. As these zombie-like students can attest, the amount of time they spend on homework in exchange for sleep is unhealthily excessive, and it weakens their performance in school, where it matters most.
“I constantly find myself staying awake past 1 in order to finish my school work. ‘All-nighters’ can usually be prevented if one begins their work when it is first assigned,” said junior Zach Branch, who is currently juggling AP Biology, AP Language, AP Spanish Language and AP World.
In addition, sleep deprivation causes increased stress, mental impairment and decreased performance. Lack of sleep may lead to illness, ultimately taking time out of school and school work. Additionally, many students find themselves catching up on sleep during class time.
“I usually feel groggy and try to sneak a good 10-minute nap in second period, which may explain the health of my grades,” said senior Nina Ramirez, currently managing several AP classes. Ramirez feels the effects of sleep deprivation in her class performance, which is often even more crucial to academic success than homework. Ramirez also attempts to lighten her at-home workload by finishing her homework during lunch.
“I typically find myself working on written work. I barely have time to study because of it. I would ask the teacher about homework due at a later date and then if I have a free day, spend that time getting ahead,” said junior Jacob Bremerman, who has managed to find effective work strategies has to handle all of his assignments.
Such hard-working students bring notable solutions to the table in order to maximize sleep time; however, English teacher Alexandra Green believes that each student needs a class schedule that is right for them. “I think conversations with students, parents, teachers and guidance counselors are important when selecting classes. Sometimes when students have trouble juggling challenging classes, dropping a course might be the best course of action. Ultimately, students who choose rigorous schedules have to realize that time management is a vital skill,” said Green.
Even dropping a class, however, may not solve the problem. Extracurricular activities prove to be major time consumers during the day-to-day lives of many students. In activities such as sports or volunteering, students can often find that the combination of coursework and extracurricular activities proves to be overwhelming. Learning to get work done quickly and prioritizing based on due dates is key to keeping up with a massive workload.
“The recommendation for a teenager is 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep each night. I think kids need to get rid of any distractions in their bedrooms such as computer monitors, phones, or TVs. It is healthiest to go to bed time each night at the same time so your body can get into a sleep routine,” said health teacher Kathy Green.
Health is essential. Without physical wellbeing, students cannot succeed. With side effects such as vulnerability to illnesses and aching, sleep deprivation can heavily impact a student’s academic and social life. Nevertheless, it remains a common component in many students’ schedules and a reoccurring phenomenon in daily teenage life.