For most of us, sleep feels elusive- or like the best birthday present ever, depending on the week. The truth is, it's not just a coincidence. It's a trend. As children hit adolescence, the amount of sleep they get drastically decreases, and there are possible links between lower grades, bad lifestyle choices like smoking and binge drinking, and lack of sleep. Sometimes there isn't a lot we can do about it, because factors like the start time of school and the amount of homework we get take control of the situation for us. There's a reason it's hard to get up at 7 every morning to get to school: when we hit puberty, our circadian rhythms start to change, so we prefer to be awake at night rather than in the morning. If we really tried to go to sleep at a decent time, most of us would be able to, and more than likely our grades and health would soar. Here's the catch: soccer practice, play rehearsal, and homework are all against us, and so are the teachers whose circadian rhythms don't allow them to understand why it is we can't seem to stay awake in first-period seminars.
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| "Sleeping" by Ed Yourdon, 2008 |
