By Ben Olson
As you reach adolescence, your biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both falling asleep and waking up. Which means that for most teens it’s natural to not be able to go to bed before 11:00 P.M.
This has been something discussed and studied for a long time, and with the new change of a later start time for Mashpee Middle/High School in the 2019-2020 school year, your schedules and sleep are some that will be affected.
As you reach adolescence, your biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both falling asleep and waking up. Which means that for most teens it’s natural to not be able to go to bed before 11:00 P.M.
This has been something discussed and studied for a long time, and with the new change of a later start time for Mashpee Middle/High School in the 2019-2020 school year, your schedules and sleep are some that will be affected.
Studies show that teens need around 8 to 10 hours of sleep to function at their best. But in another study only 15% of students get 8 hours of sleep or more on school nights, and according to Nationwide Children’s, a healthcare organization, the average amount of sleep that teenagers get is around 7 to 7 ¼ hours on school nights. There are many reasons for teenagers not getting enough sleep for reason such as:
- Shift in sleep schedule- after you hit adolescence your biological clock shifts two hours back
- Early school start times
- Social and School obligations- homework, sports, clubs, and socialization can lead to teens getting to sleep later
As reported by the National Sleep Foundation, not getting enough sleep can:
- Limit your ability to learn, listen, and concentrate, and solve problems
- Make you forget important information
- Make you more prone to pimples
- Make you easily or more irritable
- Causes you to eat unhealthy
- Make you more vulnerable to get sick
Studies also show that teens who get less sleep also get poorer grades, fall asleep in school, or are late to school more often
The Falconer asked a couple students at Mashpee High School the same questions about the amount of sleep they get and how the later school start time will affect their sleep.
For example, Matt Pinto says he gets an average of 5 hours of sleep on a school night and still feels well rested. Since we are getting a later start time in two years I asked if it would benefit his sleep. This response was “No, I don't want a later start time but, it wouldn’t affect my sleep anyways.”
Others like Nick Perrone believe that a later start time would definitely get him more sleep. He already gets about seven hours of sleep on school nights but constantly feels tired and thinks he would be better rested with this new later start time.
Other students like Aidan Smith, predict that the time change won’t have any effect on this sleep. He already sleeps about 8 hours every school night and feels well rested every morning.
Here are couple helpful tips to be more well rested if you’re a student and are sleep deprived or just sleep deprived period.
- Get used to a consistent sleep schedule
- Avoid oversleeping on the weekends
- Take an early afternoon nap
- Avoid caffeine, smoking, alcohol, and drugs
- Turn off electronics around an hour before bed