The Effects of Sleep Deprivation

From summer to school, sleep deprivation worse than ever.

It’s no secret that students at the Madison High School the week of September 3rd are more tired than usual. Between waking up at 6 a.m. and not 1 p.m., and having to sit in Precalculus and not the pool, the first week of school may be harder than most. According to Helena Oliviero at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, not having the proper amount of sleep during the school year will result in an, “impaired performance in school and behavioral and emotional problems” (Helena Oliviero). A lack of sleep can eventually begin affecting a student’s life outside of the classroom. If a student is sleep deprived it could affect their performance in their extracurriculars and if their performance in school is being affected, then sleep deprivation will be a major issue with grades as well.

MDO asked Madison High School students and teachers if their sleep, or lack thereof, is affecting their performance in school. The general consensus was yes. Malloy says, “not yet, it hasn’t caught up to me, but it will if I keep not sleeping” (Malloy). Senior Clara Smith says, “yes, because when you’re tired you don’t have the energy to be fully awake and comprehensive in your classes. Furthermore, when you get home you lack the energy to do work and extracurriculars and it becomes a full blown cycle” (Clara Smith).

During recent interviews, MDO found that the average teacher is going to sleep earlier this week than they were over the summer. Chorus teacher, Dan Malloy says over the summer he went to sleep, “anywhere from 11:30 to 2:30” and this week he would be getting to sleep closer to, “10 to 11:30” (Dan Malloy).

When MDO interviewed students, a similar result was found. During the school year, students go to sleep earlier. Madison High School Senior Alex Mroczko says she is, “getting more sleep this week rather than weeks over the summer, but [she’s] still tired” (Alex Mroczko). According to a psychologist on Quora, to get back into a more routined sleep schedule and not be as tired for school,” it takes at least 2 weeks, sometimes more” (Quora).

Sleep deprivation is a serious issue with not only students, but also teachers. Getting enough sleep is just as important as getting good grades. How is your sleep doing?