Sleep is a big point of contention for many High School students and teachers. In an article about sleep deprivation (SD), written by Paula Alhola and  Päivi Polo-Kantola, it is purveyed that lack of sleep or your sleep being affected has an effect on your cognitive performance

“Both total and partial sleep deprivation [SD] induce adverse changes in cognitive performance. First and foremost, total SD impairs attention and working memory, but it also affects other functions, such as long-term memory and decision-making.” (Alhola and Kantola 2007). Whilst total sleep deprivation has the most serious effects, partial sleep deprivation, which is more common, also has detrimental effects.

Many students suffer from partial sleep deprivation, such as senior Tony DeVasto. DeVasto usually holds a very consistent sleep schedule of roughly seven-and-a-half hours. However, he felt the effects of sleep deprivation during hell week for theatre.

“On average, [during hell week] I would get five to six hours of sleep, more than an hour less than other days,” DeVasto said.

However, it appears that recently he has been suffering partial sleep deprivation without it being hell week.

“I attribute some my sleep loss as of late being electronics. The electronics provide a distraction, sometimes for scholarly purposes, sometimes for personal entertainment,” DeVasto said.

While he may be in the minority of being a regular sleep schedule, he is far from the only student who suffers from partial sleep deprivation.

 The school nurse agrees that “sleep is the most important thing in order to perform well at school. Things will come much easier to you when you are well rested,” Susan Hunt said.

Hunt agrees with the research article that a lack of sleep makes students feel lousy and reduces their cognitive skills. It is well known that many high school students lack sleep, but what differs is the cause for it.

  “Some students take a lot of honors and AP classes, which move really quick, and this means a much larger workload,” Hunt said. Honors classes are available every year here at Central, whereas AP classes become available during sophomore year. AP World is one of the first AP courses available to students, but a plethora of AP classes become available throughout schooling, same with honors courses.

“I did not take many AP or honors course, but I did take honors math. So whenever I had homework for that class, it took longer to complete my homework and I lost sleep,” Baris said.

Even if a student only takes one honors course like Baris, it may still cause a loss of sleep and they would feel the impact. However, most teenagers, in general, do not get enough sleep regardless of workload. Different social aspects of a teenagers life can influence their sleep.

“While sleep needs can be different from person to person, the average teenager gets around 7-7.25 hours of sleep per night. That is more than two hours less than the recommended 9-9.5 hours of sleep,” Hunt said.

She also acknowledges that many factors like religion, customs, and family events will lead to students getting less sleep without even factoring in their workload.

Based on these points, it is clear to see why sleep and its effects is a hot topic of conversation throughout schools. While sleep has the ability to help you, a lack of it can prove to be harmful to an adolescent.