“I only got two hours of sleep last night,”  “I pulled an all-nighter last night for that history exam,” “I only slept five hours in total for this entire week!” are common statements that we hear in the hallways. For one thing, we can all relate to the people saying these things. When I mean “we,” I do not simply mean Marymount students. “We” includes high school students across the nation.

For most high schoolers, sleep deprivation is inevitable and has recently become a major issue. Based on data from the National Sleep Foundation, the average American teenager needs about 8-10 hours to function best. However, only 15% of teenagers get these full hours of sleep, and on the other hand, 85% of teenagers are sleep-deprived.

I interviewed a couple of Marymount students to examine their sleeping patterns.  Margad Bayarmagnai ‘19, a strong player of the Marymount Varsity tennis team, goes to bed at around 11:30 PM after a long day of tennis practice. She states that the tennis season has had a major impact on her sleeping pattern because she gets home three hours later than usual. On average, Margad gets around five hours of sleep a night. “I think the primary reason I go to bed so late is because of the overload of homework I have, and it is especially difficult to finish my homework because I am very tired when I get home from tennis practice,” Margad states.

Ava Paulson ‘19 is also a junior and is involved in many extracurriculars. Ava goes to bed around 11:45 every night after a long night of homework. Ava believes that sleep is absolutely integral, especially as a teenager, and she tries her best to go to bed as early as she can. On the weekends, Ava always sets her alarm at 9:00 AM because she does not want to sleep the day away.

Many believe that the only side effect of sleep deprivation is stress, but it can lead to much greater health defects. These include mood changes, risk of diabetes, risk of heart disease, weight gain, and high blood pressure. People are not aware of the severity of sleep deprivation and how impactful even one hour of sleep is.

Here are some tips to have a successful sleeping pattern:

1. Avoid caffeine before going to bed. It can lead you to be more sleepy when you wake up.
2. Remove all electronics in your room when you are going to bed. Electronics can ultimately disturb your sleeping pattern. Your bedroom should solely be a place for sleep.
3. Don’t take long naps during the day. Your body should be used to going to bed and taking long naps can also disturb your sleeping pattern.
4. Don’t go to bed on an empty stomach. This can make it harder for you to go to bed.