Students and sleep–that’s a relationship comparable to water and oil. It’s a subject that’s been discussed many times in the past couple of years. There’s even an article on Mainstream you can check out called Why it’s Difficult for Teens to Sleep. But as much as it’s discussed and debated, is it really true? Are all students sleep deprived or are there actually students that are getting some good sleep?

Let’s first define what “enough sleep” is. According to the CDC, teenagers should sleep eight to ten hours per a 24-hour period, or eight to ten hours of sleep a day. It’s important to distinguish the needed sleep for teenagers as opposed to adults. Since teenagers are still growing, teenagers require more sleep than adults in order to properly grow.

Ivry Mbami, a junior at PB, notes that technology tends to affect his sleep. He says, “I get at least five to six hours of sleep a night. I try to sleep more; but it’s mostly just me on my phone late at night. I sleep so late because I’m irresponsible, but I’m trying to change that.”

Ivry mentions that he lives pretty far away from PB, roughly a 30-minute drive, and has to wake up earlier than most in order to get to school.

PB freshman David Kim says, “I get at most six to eight hours of sleep a night, usually, and I stay up because I’m focusing on school.” David mentions after this statement that he’s usually on his phone and doesn’t notice the time pass, causing him to go to sleep later.

As a junior at PB, I have a pretty rigorous schedule, consisting of multiple AP classes and high workloads. Typically, the reasons I stay up late are from doing homework or some late night studying and last minute cramming. The latest I’ve stayed up is three in the morning in order to do some studying and some work. My sleep schedule has been skewed so much that, typically, I’m so tired after school that I take a nap from three to four pm, causing my sleep schedule to shift forward.

After speaking with a number of students, it’s fair to say most students find themselves sleeping roughly six hours a night, two hours less than the minimum recommended amount of time for healthy sleep. Many of these people struggle with using their phone, which prevents them from going to sleep, or are impacted by their academic work, poor time management, or, in my case, by taking a nap in order to fix my sleep schedule.

But there are students with even busier schedules than most, student athletes. These people have their time heavily occupied by practices, games, and meets. For them, it’s difficult to strike a balance between school and life.

Aaron Henderson, a PB junior and a track athlete talks about how being a student athlete affects his free time. He says, “Usually I get home from practice at around six, within that time I shower, eat, and all that stuff which is roughly an hour. So from seven, I usually try to sleep at ten pm, the time is supposed to be mine to finish up any work. But I’m tired after practice, so there’s decisions to be made whether I should be lazy and watch a show or play games or something, or if I should do my work. It comes down to me working hard and sacrificing some of that free time in order to work. Sometimes it even comes down to sacrificing some sleep.”

Ultimately, for every student it comes down to a strict management of time, and correctly prioritizing what you need to do. Instead of those 20 minutes of TikTok, you can spend your time doing some homework problems; or instead of watching a movie one night, you can put it to the side and catch an extra hour of sleep.