Sleep-deprivation plagues students

As the new school year starts many students have problems waking up on time. While it is essential that teens get to school on time, the fact still remains that many are too tired to function accurately; they fall into a state of being known as “sleep-deprivation.” HC’s start time of 8:25 is a very drastic change from the summer. Dr. Barbara Phillips MD, the director of the University of Kentucky’s sleep disorder clinic explains why teens can not adjust.

“Cell phones, computers, outside interests, love lives, you name it, teens are busy,” Phillips said. “Biologically, it’s tough for a 14-20 year old to get up much before 8 or 9, or to go to sleep much before midnight or 1.”

The potential risks of sleep-deprivation are numerous.

“The biggest risk is a car crash from lack of vigilance, but obesity, depression and impulsivity are associated with sleep loss,” Philips said.

With many juniors and seniors of driving age, being sleep-deprived is an enormous risk during morning/rush-hour traffic. On Richmond Road and New Circle, directly by HC, there are many wrecks a year, many involving teen drivers, according to LFUCG public records.

There are, however, ways to prevent sleep-deprivation.

“Students have to prioritize their sleep,” Catherine Jaquith, a former HC psychology teacher, and current head of HC’s Liberal Arts Academy said.

“It all starts with turning off any Blue-Light,” she said. “Blue-Light comes from any computers or other electronics. Blue-Light keeps our brains stimulated, making it harder to fall asleep. All Blue-Light should be off 90 minutes before you decide to get some sleep,”

Teens often don’t have the opportunity to turn off that light if they are doing research or typing a paper. This can lead to them having an impaired learning rate in the early morning, as their brains are not fully awake.
“It can make it hard to focus in school,” HC sophomore Quinn Andrews said. “I have to force myself awake almost daily in the mornings.”

Andrews, like other students, sometimes feels that there is often too much homework to do in one night. According to Jaquith, this isn’t always the case with all teachers.

“While there are a few exceptions, most teachers are actually trying to help students,” Jaquith said. “They attempt to give the minimal work possible to maximize the amount of time that a student has in a night.”

“When the research came out saying that students needed more sleep to succeed, Fayette County attempted to help students by moving start times back,” Jaquith said. “HC used to start around 7:15; it starts now at 8:25.”

Yet students who have extra classes or other commitments have to make compromises to meet their sleeping needs. Zero-hour classes start at 7:30, leaving students at a loss for what to do about extracurricular activities.

“It all comes down to being able to prioritizing your activities,” Jaquith said. “That means some people have to sacrifice things if they can’t get good grades.”

“Good grades come from getting the right amount of sleep. Sleep is important to everyone’s brains, but for the teen brain it’s absolutely vital,” Jaquith said.