For the average high school student, it is rare to get close to a full seven or eight hours of sleep after staying up late to finish schoolwork and waking up at 6 o’clock to catch the school bus. But do students actually realize the harm of getting only a few hours of sleep?

According to the National Sleep Foundation, students require up to nine and a half hours of sleep per night but only 8% of them receive that much. Almost two-thirds of the American teenagers get less than seven hours of sleep. A lack of sleep not only causes slows down cognitive skills but also has long term effects.

Numerous Ridge students consistently stay up late. Amil Khattar ’18 describes the daily effects: “I go to sleep late due to track and the mounds of homework and studying I have to do. It causes me to pay less attention in class and I rarely ever get breaks during weekdays.” So both schoolwork and extracurricular activities play a part in sleep deficiency.

Another detrimental effect of sleep deprivation is low levels of human growth hormones. The lack of this hormone may slow brain development and maturation of the immune system. It may also lead to greater anxiety and depression. In recent studies, the National Sleep Journal found that teenagers who go to sleep after midnight are much more prone to depression and 20% more likely to self-harm than those who sleep before 10 o’clock.

Drowsiness and slowed growth is not the only consequence of sleep deprivation. The steps students take to prevent sleeping during class are equally as harmful. Caffeine, including coffee, energy drinks and soda, has proven to incite cardiovascular and neurological problems.

Getting insufficient amounts of sleep affects everyone and has many repercussions; as Eric Tung ‘19 confirms, “Even though I am only a freshman, I have suffered from sleep deprivation almost every single school day. My grades have tanked due to lack of focus and I am significantly more torpid. I have even actually lost interest in some activities due to both my busy schedule and struggle to keep my grades up.”

All students can relate to the strain of maintaining good grades, signing up for many extracurricular activities and preparing for standardized tests. Though in the last two years Ridge High School has removed mid-terms and finals, schoolwork has not decreased.
Between the Ivy-or-die mentality and extracurricular activities such as band and track, students lose precious hours of sleep every day, inciting countless negative effects on themselves both mentally and physically.