Luisa Bernardino

The large amounts of schoolwork may cause students to deprive of sleep to guarantee good academic results, leading to many unfortunate health consequences.

Sleep deprivation leads to a lack of concentration in class, and an increase in fatigue. This creates a cycle of stress that only worsens the student’s school experience. 

Sleep is integral for the mental well-being of a student. It improves their ability to focus, concentrate , and performance. Getting a sufficient amount of sleep helps with managing stress levels and helps boost a student’s emotional state. 

For students to be able to reap the benefits of sleep, they need to be getting about 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. However, only a small fraction of students achieve this. 

Instead of being able to focus, sleep deprivation increases the chances of day-dreaming in class. As a result, people break their concentration easily. Academic performance often suffers when the student is unable to focus. As a result, instead of being excited for the school day, many feel fatigued and may even dread the start of school.

“It’s very easy to get distracted, especially when tired,” sophomore Taiesha Goyal said.

There are many reasons for why a high schooler may be unable to get enough sleep. Many highschool students will place emphasis on their activities and extracurriculars instead of emotional well being. Instead of going to sleep at 9:00 p.m., they might stay awake until the early hours of the morning to ensure they’re still up to date with their to-dos.

“It’s also the anxiety of not finishing an assignment or doing bad on a test,” sophomore Sarayu Maddala said.

There is a lot of pressure put on students to do well in school, and this can cause many to feel overwhelmed. The stress that school generates often disturbs the quality of sleep a person gets, and if the quality of sleep is worsened, it becomes harder to manage this stress. 

Sophomore Pragya Iyer says she doesn’t “get deep sleep, like the quality of sleep is bad,” and she’ll often find herself waking “up several times in the middle of the night.”

Students join their favorite extracurricular activities because they are incredibly passionate about the things they do, but a lack of sleep can drain that enthusiasm. Sports, while incredibly beneficial to a student, often takes up a lot of a student’s time. 

“I had to drink coffee after my [badminton] class to stay awake because I had to finish my homework,” Iyer said.

Breaking this cycle is not easy, but it can be done. Instead of catching up on sleep on the weekends, ensure you are receiving seven to eight hours of sleep each night to end sleep deprivation.