Facebook: Teen Voices @ TFP
By Hannah Kerley
Valley Voices Staff Writer
Like many teenagers, Dylan Plaster has a hard time getting enough sleep while trying to balance school and extracurricular activities.
During football season he has to be up by 6 a.m. for workouts. After that comes school, where he falls asleep during classes on a daily basis, he said. Baseball practice in spring adds more responsibilities. On a good night, the McMinn County High School sophomore may get seven hours of sleep, he said.
“(My parents and teachers) don’t care that I’m tired and have so much stuff to do,” he said. “They just expect that I can do it all.”
Dylan may be overloaded and sleep-deprived, but he is certainly not alone.
A 2006 survey by the National Sleep Foundation found that the average high school senior sleeps less than seven hours a night; most miss out on an average of 12 hours weekly of needed rest.
Sleep deprivation can affect academic performance.
In 2001, the University of Minnesota surveyed more than 7,000 high schoolers about their sleep habits and grades. The survey results showed that teens who received A’s averaged about 15 more minutes of sleep than the B students, who in turn averaged about 11 more minutes than the C students.
“I have a hard time paying attention, and I zone out,” said Sweetwater High School junior Dana Ingram, of days she hasn’t gotten enough sleep.
Kathy Frazier taught wellness for 17 years at McMinn County High School and is now a graduation specialist.
“I have found that it seems like most kids’ sleep problems come from staying up texting or on Facebook and things like that,” she said. “What I have come to see is that many of the schools and athletes are disciplined when it comes to getting to bed at a decent hour, because they know they have practice or a game, so I don’t see extracurricular activities affecting them too much.”
A 1998 study in Monitor, a publication by the American Psychological Association, stated that 26 percent of high school students routinely sleep less than 6.5 hours on school nights and only 15 percent sleep 8.5 hours or more. The same study indicated that to make up for lost sleep most teens snooze an extra couple hours on weekend mornings — a habit that can lead to poor-quality sleep.
Even with improved sleep, however, some teenagers still will not want to get up for school.
“I find it much easier to wake up to do things that I like and that are fun,” said Dylan, “but it’s hard to get up for school because I know it is boring.”
Hannah Kerley is a student at Meigs County High School.