Why Are Students So Tired In Class?

By: Abreshmina Usman (Staff Writer)

A whopping 85% of George Washington High School students agree to extra sleep time needed, according to the survey of 301 students which was collected on Feb.5. to determine the reasons for tiredness of students in class.

Everyday teachers face students who sleep in class, and complain constantly. As the majority of the students agree to this “bizarre” idea of having nap times, it comes to show how tired students can get, mentally and physically. The survey conducted for students data, reported that 80% of the students find themselves getting sleepy or tired during. Sure, the reasons may vary by a huge margin, but regardless of that, students deserve a better environment where they are helped and aren’t constantly tired.

As the school year goes by, everyday a new student finds themselves sleeping or just being constantly tired at school. One of the students in GWHS, Ari Keyes, explains her experience of being tired at school, she states that “I am usually tired throughout the school day, I zone out a lot. I think students being pushed to do so many extracurriculars is part of the reason we're so tired- but also highschool is the perfect environment to make people spiral into depression which definitely affects how tired I usually am.” This is a great example of this issue, because students are trying their best in school, however the school itself may just not be putting enough care into the students. 

 Looking deeper into this issue, not getting enough sleep is quite a huge problem, because it’s affecting the brain, which if you know, is the most important thing in the human body. Not being able to function properly due to the lack of sleep, is why many students find themselves being unable to pay attention or just learn anything in general. The article “The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body” states that “Sleep deprivation also negatively affects your mental abilities and emotional state. You may feel more impatient or prone to mood swings. It can also compromise decision-making processes and creativity.” It's a problem for many students to keep up their 7-8 hours of sleep per day due to the fact that they have so much work, or simply that their life is quite busy. This ties back to the idea where maybe some extra sleep or break time at school, could fix those problems.

Many people tend to downplay their sleeping habits, but they never acknowledge how damaging it can get, and its overtime effect.  It’s not just some at-the-moment problem, the bad sleeping habits can lead to a very critical situation. According to the article “The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body,” the effects from not sleeping are quite a lot, for example the lack of sleep does not just affect our brain like many would think so, it affects your heart, our weight, our thoughts, our physical ability and much more; Something so simple, yet so damaging. 

Gaining some more perspectives, here is some insight on this matter from GWHS English Teacher/Yearbook Advisor/Journalism Advisor Julia M. David, “I usually have about one or two students in my morning classes that might put their head down and fall asleep. I’m not sure the reason, but I know in the past some reasons were responsibilities outside of school or a difficult home life that prevents them from having regular sleep.” Many times, students deal with things outside of school, and they truly just cannot focus in class, which is quite reasonable. 

A student from Marina Middle School, Ali Usman, shares his point of view, “I sleep in school because sometimes I am finished with my work and the teacher is saying some nonsense things which are not related to the subject at all.” This is a greater problem than many people realize, the highest percentage in the survey revealed that students being bored is actually the top pick for their lack of activity / tiredness in school. 

According to the book “Take a Nap! Change your life.”It states other ways sleep deprivation can affect one’s body and mind, “Study after study has found that decreased levels of nocturnal sleep are associated with increased risk of breast cancer and colon cancer, as well as dysregulation of hormones that control appetite.” (Pg.16.) It’s about time people open their eyes to notice the dangers they put themselves in, and help spread awareness.

 A takeaway many should have, is to never gamble with sleep and keep it a high priority; while the takeaway for the school systems should be to minimize homework, and unnecessary lectures, to make everyone’s lives manageable and full of sleep.