Sleeping enough is important. When we were little we were told we needed at least 8-9 hours of sleep every night and were given a bedtime by our parents. Nationwide Children’s Hospital reported that on average, teens get 7 hours of sleep every night when in reality teens need about 9 hours of sleep. This lack of sleep can be for many reasons such as, too much caffeine, stress, screen time, etc.

Some OHS students fit into Nationwide’s statistc while others even report going to sleep as late as 3 a.m. Sophomore, Ashly Reyes said she gets an average of 5-7 hours of sleep each school night.

“I go to sleep at 11:00 pm and wake up at 6:00 am, honestly it’s not even that bad compared to the sleep schedule of some people I’ve seen. During the weekends though, I admit I have a problem because I go to sleep at 4:00-6:00 am and wake up at 10.”

“I do feel moodier, hungrier, and unmotivated when I fall asleep later compared to times when  I have fallen asleep at 7 or 9 and woken up at the same exact time,” said Reyes when asked about how the lack of sleep affects her.

“I definitely agree that sleep schedule does affect our mood because when I fall asleep at later times such as 3 or 4 am I just give up when it’s time to wake up for school and stay home. When I wake up after having fallen asleep at my normal bedtime 9:00 pm I feel ok with getting ready and going to school because I’m like energized for the day. Usually when I fall asleep later it’s either because I’m overthinking or on Netflix,” explained sophomore, Gabriela Bastres.

Junior, Elizabeth Lopez said, ” I can’t really give you a specific answer because it’s not like I track my sleep schedule. What I can say for sure though is that I never go to sleep before 12:00 am and I always wake up at 6 am for work and school on both weekdays and weekends.”

“[I get so little sleep] because I like to scroll through TikTok before bed and I tend to get distracted and honestly forget about the time,” she added.

I myself think that the most probable reason why teens nowadays get so little sleep is because of technology. Of course, there are many other reasons but I think it’s the main one from personal experience because I am a victim of that too. I live with 4 other siblings and sometimes I crash into them all on their phones in the kitchen getting midnight snacks when we all know we were supposed to be asleep at 9 and have school tomorrow.

Most experts agree that the best way to have a good sleep schedule is to have a nice bedtime routine, set a bedtime, get off your phone, and do self-care. Relax, clear your mind and unwind for a couple of minutes, and then go to bed. You’ll feel much better the next day and maybe you won’t fall asleep in the middle of class. Yes, sleep deprivation has short-term effects like moodiness, weight fluctuations, fatigue, and low motivation, but it can also have many long-term effects like hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, obesity, diabetes, depression, anxiety, decreased brain function, memory loss, weakened immune system, lower fertility rates, and psychiatric disorders. So fix your sleep schedule now while you can.

Do you feel like YOU sleep enough? Tell us in the comments!