By: Lucinda Dorrance, Nico Jordan & Norah Lubek
Graphic By: Dunya Omar
According to a November 2023 Pirates’ Hook survey 73% of students wish that they slept more.
Students cited several reasons why, but many blame their screens.
“I’m pretty sure most of the kids here are just using their phones before bed,” sophomore Marsden Francis said.
Sleep deprivation has always been a problem in high schoolers, but how, exactly, does it affect students?
Research suggests that teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep per night, but most teens get less than 7.5.
One of the main causes of sleep deprivation in teenagers is screens. Putting electronic devices away an hour before going to bed can increase the amount of sleep individuals get by over 20 minutes per night.
In 2016, the start time at Riverside was changed from around 7:30 to 9:15. Some teachers thought that this would help students get more sleep because they could wake up later. Other teachers thought that this would be a change for the worse, because students would wind up staying up later because they didn’t have to wake up early for school.
Only 40.9% of survey respondents were satisfied or extremely satisfied with the amount of sleep they get. 54.3% of students said that they sleep 7-8 hours a night, 27.6% of students said that they sleep 5-6 hours a night and only 15.2% of students said that they get 9-10 hours of sleep a night.
According to The Cleveland Clinic, Sleep deprivation is “when you aren’t sleeping enough, or you aren’t getting good, quality sleep.”
Sleep is a basic human need and is vital to good health. According to The National Institutes of Health, sleep deprivation has previously been linked to chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, poor mental health and depression.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that teenagers ages 13-18 should get between 8-10 hours of sleep within 24 hours. As an adolescent, the production of melatonin (sleep hormone) shifts and creates a different circadian rhythm that may not be typical for younger children or adults. Studies done by the CDC suggest that about 70% of high school students do not get enough sleep on school nights.
Multiple aspects of a high school student’s life make it difficult to get the recommended amount of sleep. Over 30% of students surveyed by The Pirates’ Hook said that homework was the largest barrier for going to sleep at a reasonable hour. Students also often have extracurricular activities, jobs and social lives. Multiple Riverside students said they typically use their phone two to three hours before going to bed.
Despite what many people may believe, teenagers need more sleep than younger children. This specifically was the reason for the change in bell schedules for Durham Public Schools in 2016. The schedule standardized start times for elementary, middle and high schools, with openings set at 7:45 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., respectively.
The current bell schedule, 9:15 to 4:15, brings varying opinions. Some like the later start time, but it also means more students miss class to leave early for sports. Students are also more likely to stay up later on a screen when they know they don’t have to be at school at 7:30 AM.
“I understand the reason for starting school later and what the research said but I don’t know if I agree with that,” said health/PE teacher Michael Whitfield. “I think that it causes students to still get the same amount of sleep, but because we start later, they stay up later.”
DPS Board Member Natalie Beyer disagrees.
“I believe the district’s shift to later start times for adolescents has enabled our high school students to improve both the quality and quantity of their sleep,” she said. “This policy change was designed to more equitably address the health and wellness needs of students and families.”
Beyer was part of the decision-making committee that shifted the start times. The changed times for DPS school schedules was the most logical decision considering buses have to run three routes each morning and afternoon to accommodate elementary, middle and high school.
“We took a lot of consideration and time when voting on the switch,” she said.
Despite the fact that little research has been done about the effects of the switch on testing scores and grades, Beyer hopes that high schoolers are more awake in the morning and prepared to pay attention in their first period class.
Many students agree.
“I think it’s the perfect time to get up and get to school,” sophomore Ariana Lambar said. “I think I wouldn’t like it if it started even later because I would be getting home even later and it would offset my night.”
Data collected from Riverside students said 78.1% of students believe they would get less sleep if the school started at 7:30 AM and ended earlier instead.
“I was just in middle school (which started at 7:30 AM) and I know for a fact that I’m getting more sleep than I did before,” one student responded.
About 27% of students believed that electronics is the biggest barrier when it came to their ability to get enough sleep. Multiple students said they spent two to three hours on their phones before sleeping.
Multiple studies, including one at Northwestern University, suggest that the artificial light that is admitted impacts humans sleep-wake cycles. Humen’s circadian rhythm become disrupted not only from the light from screens but also house lighting. The study found that a reduction in the production of melatonin results from this extra exposure to light at late hours.
Students’ survey responses support that research.
“It is physically impossible for me to fall asleep before 10:00 pm,” one responder wrote. “I go to bed at 11 but I only ever fall asleep around 1 AM” and “I tend to wake up a lot in the night,” others wrote.
In order to combat the effects of sleep deprivation on their students, some Riverside teachers have changed how they implement deadlines and late penalties. Anna Allman, an AP United States History and Economic and Personal finance teacher at Riverside, has noticed the effects of lack of sleep on her students.
“You can see it in the quality of work they turn in, and obviously it’s all time stamped on Canvas,” said Allman. “The essay someone turns in at 4 p.m. is not as good as the essay someone turned in at 7 p.m.
“I would say [it’s] a significant problem, across all students, all grade levels, all abilities,” Allman said. “They’re all tired.”
To keep students from staying up late, Allman doesn’t take any late points off on assignments and assigns earlier submission hours.
“In my AP class my deadline on Canvas is 9 pm, as opposed to 11:59 pm, because I don’t want [students] to feel the need to stay up till 11:59 to get something in on time.”
Allman attended Riverside when school started at 7:30. She remembers being sleep deprived herself.
“It’s important to do school work, but it’s also important to take care of yourself,” Allman said. “I wish someone when I was in high school had told me I don’t need to stay up to 4 a.m. doing my AP Psych homework. Like, just take the L. You’ll be fine.”
Allman believes homework has a place in school because it helps further familiarize students with the content gone over in class through repetition. However, it becomes difficult to balance with jobs, sports and other extracurricular activities.
“I think it is important to know that your student is not just a student for you,” she said. “They have other teachers [and] they have other classes in addition to their life in general.”
By removing the pressure of deadlines Allman thinks this takes away the temptation for students to make poor choices.
“Sometimes, that pressure leads to ‘I’m so desperate to turn it in on time that I’m going to use Chat GPT, or I’m going to ask my friend,’” Allman said. “Hopefully removing that pressure removes the temptation to make those poor choices.”
