Junior Rose Collins says she averages about 6 hours of sleep each night.

“The second I roll out of bed and open my eyes, I feel like a zombie,” she said.

While many people may assume that the hardest part of high school is tests, homework, and navigating new relationships, for many Lane Tech students, the real problem is something quieter: getting enough sleep.

“It is the hardest thing just to get myself to do basic tasks like brushing my teeth and driving to school,” Collins said. “I just feel awful.”

Junior Emma Shortlidge, a varsity Tennis Player says, “On average during the school week,” Shortlidge said, “I would say I get about six hours of sleep every day.” She and other students find that a busy schedule, packed with homework and extracurricular activities, is a major obstacle when it comes to trying to get to bed on time.

Shortlidge said that sports make her nights a lot longer. “I’m on the Lane Tech tennis team, so practices went on really late, and then I had to come home and do homework. I go to bed late every day, which has been an issue.”

According to a 2006 National Sleep Foundation poll, the organization’s most recent study of teens’ sleep, found that more than 87% of high school students in the U.S. get far less than the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep per night. This trend was described by a 2015 Stanford Medicine article as “a serious threat to their health, safety and academic success.”

Collins helped explain the connection she saw between sleep and her well being. “I feel like sleep is a reset; I feel energized and ready to start the day. It’s especially a reset for my social battery. But when I don’t get enough sleep, the reset just doesn’t work.” She said. Collins helped to reveal that exhaustion isn’t just about falling asleep in class, it’s much more.

Collins said sleep affects her relationships, attitude, and overall communication as well. “Sleep affects how I act around my friends too—I’m in a better mood and communicate better when I’m rested,” Collins said. Similarly, Shortlidge said that the lack of sleep often puts her in a bad mood which can result in strains on her relationships.

Not only is sleep a physical issue for these students, but also a social-emotional one. “When I don’t get enough sleep, I’m not in a good mood and it’s really hard to focus,” said junior Isabel Sagami. “I feel like I’m falling behind, and that affects my interactions with friends.”  

Bad sleeping habits are not just a routine, but merely the new normal for these students. This has caused Sagami to turn to other coping techniques, like caffeine. “I feel so much better on days when I’m naturally awake, not when I’m running on caffeine,” she said. Sagami is aware of this “sleep issue” and admits that nothing really compares to a full night of sleep.

So, the real question is: what can actually change? Sagami, Shortlidge, and Collins all have ideas on later start times, adjusted schedules, and less homework, and experts agree with them.  

A 2022 meta-analysis from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which used data from 1.7 million students, concluded that “later school start times are associated with longer sleep duration, less daytime sleepiness, and improvements in a range of developmental outcomes for adolescents.”  They also stated that a delayed start time of 30 minutes is significantly more aligned with the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents. 

Due to data like this many states are starting to take action, particularly California.

 A California law was put into effect in 2019 stating that no high school was allowed to start before 8:30 a.m, solely due to awareness of the drastic negative effects from lack of sleep. 

While it may seem reasonable to think that weekends can be your “catch up time” this is not the case.

 A Stanford Medicine article based on California’s new start time mandate, written by Katie Chen, explores a common sleep misconception.

    While teens may think they can catch up on lost hours of sleep over the weekend, it’s not likely they can. ”Research has shown it can take up to four days to recover from one hour of sleep deficit and up to nine days to eliminate sleep debt, which is the cumulative effect of the hours of sleep your body needs.”