Be involved! Maybe join a club or play a sport; but make sure you also finish all your homework, spend time with your family, maybe work a job, and get at least 9 hours of sleep every night. As a very busy high schooler myself, this is a lot to handle. Many nights my schedule is just like this: I come straight home from practice, start my homework, take a break to eat, finish my homework, take a shower, and go straight to bed; almost always barely before 11. Going to bed at 11 though, is good for most highschool students, considering many of my friends don’t even finish their homework until midnight; and a few don’t even sleep some nights. Every morning I wake up at 7, so it seems like I get 8+ hours of sleep every night! However, I recently got a fitness tracker watch and have been stunned to find out that most nights I barely reach 7 hours of sleep. Then, after some research I learned that the average high schooler gets seven or less!

Now two hours might not seem like a lot of sleep to lose, but when important bodily functions are only done during sleep, things start to add up. When you sleep your body is busy, cleaning up waste, making new connections, and regulating many hormones. How long you sleep also impacts your mood and attitude, and after late nights, everyone seems to be in a lousy mood. Waking up in a bad mood is never fun, school is too early, your friends are too loud,and everyone is in your way. When you wake up in a bad mood it affects your everyday activities, including your schoolwork! So now you have to choose between getting that sleep and feeling better tomorrow, or staying up another night to catch up, or make up your work.

Unfortunately many high schoolers are caught in this unending loop, having to choose between sleep or another important activity. However, what a teenager wants isn’t the only thing being overlooked, so is their health. As a highschooler we are always told that being healthy mentally and physically is very important, but that’s hard whenever there is so many other things that are also supposed to be important. So if you are a highschooler try to get that extra hour, you will be thankful for it the next morning! If you are a teacher don’t be offended by our unending rage against homework, it’s another hour less of sleep!

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-sleep/whats-in-it-for-you/mood

http://sleepcenter.ucla.edu/sleep-and-teens

https://www.news-medical.net/health/Function-of-Sleep.aspx

https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/sleep-disorder-center/sleep-in-adolescents