By Lux Sheplee, Staff Writer
High school start times differ around the country, but for River Hill students, beginning the school day at 7:25 AM can be difficult. Sports, homework, and other extracurricular activities can impact what time people go to bed, and how much sleep they get. But even when students get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep, there are further factors that impact the quality of their rest.
Junior Adam Azrieli describes his view on the subject. When asked if he thinks he gets enough sleep, Adam’s response was a simple “yes.” As Adam describes his sleeping routine he explains, “I go to bed at 10:00, 10:30. 6:30 is wake up. I get dressed, and then I go back to sleep, alarm at 6:35. So official full wake up is 6:35.” When asked if he gets tired throughout the day, Adam said that he does, but also stated, “I’m choosing to be tired, I control it.”
Contrary to Adam, 11th grader Donovan Sheppard says he does not get enough sleep as he shared, “I go to sleep at 11:00 and wake up at 5:00.” He wakes up two hours before having to come to school because he has things to finish in the morning that he couldn’t get to at night.When asked the reason why he goes to bed late, Donovan replied, “It’s because my teachers overload me with homework and I have other things to do outside of school.”
Junior Mia Duffy also says that she does not get enough nightly rest. Mia goes to bed at 10:00 and wakes up at 6:55. 8-10 hours of sleep is the recommended amount of rest for teenagers, but Mia says that the amount of sleep she is getting is not enough, “Because, well I’m just really tired throughout the day.”
Junior Omar Hassan has a view similar to Mia’s as he agreed saying, “Yes I feel like I get enough sleep, but not the amount I prefer.” Omar also concludes that lack of sleep affects his performance both mentally and physically. “I feel like if I had the preferred amount of sleep, I would perform better and be more active.”
Science teacher Mr. Davis lays out the facts of the matter. “It is a biological fact that teenagers start producing melatonin, the hormone for sleep, later in the evening and continue producing it later in the morning than kids or adults. You can go to sleep early every night, and wake up early every morning and your brain will never change when it’s producing the melatonin. You will continue to be sleepy when you wake up because you’re still producing that melatonin.” So while some students may get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep nightly, the sleep they get is less restful than sleeping during melatonin production, which provides better sleep.
This explains the differing responses of students interviewed, and how they are still tired even when getting the “right” amount of sleep. Waking up while still producing melatonin makes going to school at 7:25 difficult for River Hill students, no matter how long they slept the night before.