A question for students: Do you get frequent headaches? Feel irritated or depressed? Struggle with concentrating in class? Can’t remember what you had for dinner last night, or what material was covered in your last class? Are you tired?

Chances are you said yes. Moodiness, memory impairment, difficulty concentrating, and fatigue are some of the most common symptoms of sleep deprivation. They also depict what one might see—tired, zombie-like students with eye bags and vacant stares—in schools across the country. 

Sleep deprivation is an epidemic in American high schools: over 70% of students get less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep. Consistently going to bed after midnight and waking up around six or seven in the morning might not seem like a big problem, but the long-term health impacts of sleep deprivation can be devastating. Worryingly, the demands of high school often create a perfect storm, combining late-night extracurriculars, hours of homework, and early start times that leave students struggling to get more than seven hours of sleep. 

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Kat Mulgrew

Students struggle to get enough sleep with their demanding schedules.

A Knight Errant poll of 81 Benilde-St. Margaret’s students found that 67.9% of students don’t believe they get enough sleep and 77.8% of students said they don’t feel well-rested. This is probably because 76.6% of students reported getting under seven hours of sleep, less than the recommended eight hours. 

Getting enough shut-eye as a teenager is harder than just going to bed at night. Students face various challenges, from biological changes to school pressures, that make it difficult to go to sleep and get enough sleep. 

One of the first hurdles that can prevent students from getting enough sleep is puberty. No, seriously, beyond physical and mental changes, puberty also has a significant impact on sleep. Specifically, puberty brings changes to your circadian rhythm, which is the cycle of behavior your body goes through every 24 hours that impacts things like when you feel hungry or tired. 

As a kid, you usually start to feel tired around 8:00-9:00 pm and wake up earlier in the morning. When you reach puberty, your circadian rhythm jumps back. You don’t feel tired until later in the day, typically 10:00-11:00 pm, and find yourself sleeping in more often as your bedtime naturally moves back a couple of hours. This change is normal but can create challenges for students when evolving sleep schedules no longer match school hours. 

Most schools across the United States start around 8:00 am, and considering students typically go to bed later, waking up early to get to school reduces the time students have to sleep. Therefore, because of biological changes, it can be difficult for students to get enough sleep when they are naturally inclined to stay up later and sleep in. 

However, the activities students have to juggle outside of school often present a bigger challenge to getting enough sleep. For example, many students go to practice after school, typically for 2-3 hours. When homework and other essentials, like eating dinner, are added into the mix, students find themselves up until midnight as they work through hours of homework. Senior Addison Caywood finds that one of her biggest obstacles in getting enough sleep is her sport. “I go straight from school to hockey, and then I like to have my ‘me time’ after hockey, when I come home, eat dinner, shower….that’s what keeps me up,” Caywood said.

Sleeping might seem like a waste of time, but that’s far from the truth. In fact, sleep is a necessity for human survival. Dr. Michael Howell, Professor and the Division Head of Sleep Medicine in the Department of Neurology at the University of Minnesota, explains the importance of sleep, what happens when we sleep, and what could happen if we don’t get enough. “Sleep is critically important for brain and body health. We need more sleep when we’re younger,” Howell said. 

Students often feel like they must prioritize doing their homework and studying over getting enough sleep. However, sleep is critical for memory and ensuring that you can function at your best the next day. Even if you study for hours, you won’t be able to make significant progress if you don’t allow your brain to maintain the information you’ve been reviewing. 

When you’re asleep, your brain is getting to work. Sleep is important for keeping things in your memory and overall health. “It’s when your brain makes sense of the world. Whatever it is that you’re trying to learn, a new language, musical instrument, or trying to be creative and write something, it is during sleep that your brain lays down the pathways that allow you to do that. So if you’re trying to study for something, it’s really important that you sleep if you’re ever going to remember it for any decent period of time,” Howell said. 

Sleep is also important for overall brain health. Studies have found a connection between limited sleep and a higher risk of developing dementia and other degenerative diseases later in life. “If you are sleep deprived, your brain is not clearing out waste products…all the cells in your body have waste that builds up over the day in your brain. Those are only cleared out when we’re sleeping, and particularly… in deep sleep,” Howell said.

If you’re starting to worry about the amount of sleep you’re getting every night, but still feel restricted by the amount of work you have to accomplish every day, don’t fret. Howell has some advice for those looking to improve their sleep schedule. 

His first recommendation is a classic—turn off your phone. The blue light emitted from phones and other screens is a primary factor that deters people from getting enough sleep as the light can reset your body’s circadian rhythm, preventing you from feeling tired. Doctors recommend turning off all screens around an hour before you go to bed so your body has time to release hormones, such as melatonin, that help you fall asleep. 

If abandoning your phone an hour before bed sounds like an impossible challenge, there are still some adjustments you can make. Turning off notifications can help limit interruptions to your sleep throughout the night, but if you absolutely have to be on your phone, “[A]t least dim the screen down at night,” Howell said 

Howell’s second recommendation takes place in the morning. If you find yourself setting multiple alarms and falling asleep after you wake up, Howell has some advice. “Try to wake up as consistently as possible and get bright light in the morning, because what that does is jump-starts your circadian rhythm,” Howell said. Waking up consistently and fully in the morning makes it easier to fall asleep later on. “[I]f you get up early and you get light in the morning early, by the time it’s bedtime, your body is much closer and ready to fall asleep,” Howell said. 

The last suggestion Howell has is dietary. Poor diets, that are low in fiber and vitamins while high in fat and sugar, have been linked to sleep that is less beneficial for your body. Maintaining a balanced diet can help you sleep better and ensure you receive the essential benefits of a full night’s rest. “make sure you have an adequate amount of iron in your diet, and make sure you’re getting adequate vitamin D,” Howell said.