Credit: Molly Bergeron

With changing circadian rhythms and increasing homework, high school can create the perfect environment for imperfect sleep. Managing these factors, along with this, and knowledge of how screen time affects sleep, some students may be better able to regulate their sleep.

Have you ever fought to stay awake during class or while studying for a test late at night? Have you ever felt so exhausted during the day that you can barely make it through a sports practice or even hold a conversation with friends? If so, you are not alone.

Every morning, students at WHS drag themselves out of bed, some fueled by caffeine rather than rest. Behind the slowly-shutting eyes and sluggish steps through the hallways, lies an increasing issue for high school students: sleep deprivation.

“As the day goes on, day after day, you build up this massive sleep deficit that you just fully can’t erase,” WHS psychology teacher Erin Lehmann said.

For many teenagers a lack of sleep is a part of their everyday life, often caused by early start times, heavy homework loads, extracurricular activities, digital distractions and other aspects of life as a high school student. The National Center for Biotechnology Information claims that chronic sleep deprivation can negatively impact students’ academic performances and their overall health.

According to the Sleep Center team at Boston Children’s Hospital, sleep problems are very common. About 25% of healthy kids under the age of 18 experience sleep difficulties, and 80% of teens do not get enough sleep. Experts from the National Sleep Foundation say that teens typically need eight to 10 hours of sleep per night.

On top of this, academic pressure and extracurricular activities can extend into the evening hours. Students then are left to stay up late finishing homework or practicing for sports or performances. Add in the constant notifications from phones, social media and streaming platforms, and sleep often gets pushed aside.

“Because teens are always doing so many things at night like homework, sports or being social, they have trouble falling asleep until later because their circadian rhythm is going backwards as you enter adolescence,” Lehmann said. “So even if they want to go to sleep at 9 o’clock, they can’t.”

The word “circadian” means to occur in a 24-hour cycle. These rhythms make you feel sleepy or alert at regular times every day. Your internal clock tells your body when it is time to sleep at night. It also tells your body when it is time to be awake during the day. Everyone’s body has this natural timing system. When you feel sleepy at night, your circadian rhythms are telling you it is time to go to bed.

Teenagers also experience a biological shift in their circadian rhythm during puberty. This internal clock, which tells humans when to feel awake or sleepy, begins to push sleepiness later into the night during puberty.

The loss of sleep in teens doesn’t only affect their mental health but it also affects their physical health because of the lost time that the body has to recover. This makes sleep especially crucial for athletes who constantly need recovery on their body.

“During deep sleep is when your immune system builds itself up and it’s also when your body heals itself,” Lehmann said. “When you aren’t getting enough sleep, if you get a sports injury, for example, the injury might not heal as fast.”

While natural shifts in the body are already at odds with the health of teenagers, its outside forces that can have the largest negative impact on some students.

“My phone and stress keeps me up at night, even if I feel tired I can’t fall asleep,” freshman Addie Cooper said.

Experts from UCLA Health mentioned how one change in the body during puberty is closely related to how you sleep. There is a shift in the timing of the circadian rhythms. Before puberty, the human body makes you sleepy around 8 p.m. or 9 p.m.. When puberty begins, this rhythm shifts a couple hours later. Now, the body communicates to the brain to go to sleep around 10 p.m. or 11 p.m..

“When adolescents lose sleep it mixes with their already raging hormones which makes their mood go crazy,” WHS nurse Tim Bryant said.

Not only does a lack of sleep affect a students’ mood but it also affects their attention span making it far more difficult to recall information therefore resulting in a drop in grades. This relates to a lack of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep because if the body doesn’t attain that cycle, then the brain doesn’t get the chance to process information as a form of memory, process emotion, and continue the pathway of a healthy brain development.

“If you are learning a new skill, anything procedural, all of those things are physical skills that you’re working on get cemented into your brain during REM sleep,” Lehmann said. “If you are not getting through a full 5 or 6 cycles of sleep per night, it means you are cheating yourself out of REM sleep, which means you’re cheating yourself out of learning.”

Chronic sleep deprivation can have serious consequences. Teens may struggle in school due to poor concentration, memory issues and reduced academic performance. It also increases the risk of mood swings, depression and anxiety.

“I see all kinds of problems that come with not getting enough sleep, whether that is not being about to pay attention in class, people getting sick, or they are just really run down,” Lehmann said.