As high school students, getting sleep isn’t exactly our top priority. Between school, jobs, sports and activities, most students are pretty busy during the week. “Kids have a lot of activities outside of school so they stay up way too late doing their homework,” said senior Madison Hayes. It’s safe to say most of us have pulled an all-nighter. Weekends can be busy for the same reasons, as well as hanging out with friends and other plans. With the average high school student’s busy schedule, sleep deprivation isn’t uncommon. But why is sleep so important and how much should we be getting?

    Most teenagers do not get enough sleep each night; according to the National Sleep Foundation only about 15% of teenagers get the needed 8.5 hours on school nights. The recommended 8-9 hours of sleep seems like a lot to some of us, but in reality, a good night’s sleep is essential to keeping us healthy.

    Besides the obvious fatigue that comes with sleep deprivation, teens can suffer from several symptoms. Not enough sleep can cause skin problems, like acne, unhealthy eating habits, aggressive behavior, and can contribute to illness. Sleep deprivation does not just make you feel tired or sick either, it can affect your daily lifestyle and those around you. Students who don’t get enough sleep are less likely to do well in school and sports and can often make it hard to get along with family and friends.

    On top of the usual consequences of sleep deprivation, studies show that sleep problems and teenage depression can be connected. The National Sleep Foundation’s 2006 Sleep in America poll calculated depressive mood scales for 1,602 adolescents, measuring their response to four mood states: felt unhappy, sad, or depressed, felt hopeless about the future, felt nervous or tense, and worried too much. The results showed that about 46% of the teens scored low, 37% scored moderately, and 17% scored high. NSF concluded that those with higher scores were more likely to have trouble sleeping. Additionally, 73% of teenagers who reported feeling unhappy, sad, or depressed also reported not getting enough sleep. This study, along with others, confirms the belief that sleep deprivation and depression are connected which is a possible explanation for increased rates of teenage depression.

    So what can students do to create a healthy sleep schedule? They can start by trying to catch up on sleep on weekends. Teenagers tend to have irregular sleep patterns during the week and then stay up late and sleep in on weekends. While many think that sleeping in on weekends makes up for any lost sleep during the week, it actually can affect their biological clocks and hurt their quality of sleep. Just giving yourself an approximate sleep schedule over the weekend can make a big difference.

    In addition, you can simply make sleep a priority. While we all tend to procrastinate with school work and stay up late, if you make the extra effort to go to bed early when you can, your body will appreciate the extra sleep. Taking naps can help a lot too, just don’t sleep for too long or they can interfere with your sleep routine.

   Sleep deprivation is definitely common in teenagers, but it doesn’t take a lot of effort to catch up on sleep when you can. For most people it’s common sense not to eat or drink before bed and to take advantage of nap opportunities when you can. If teenagers are willing to make sleep a bigger priority, adolescent sleep deprivation would definitely be less of a problem. With some of the more serious consequences, like depression, high school students have every reason to make a healthier sleep routine. So if you’re feeling tired all the time, don’t just use coffee and junk food to stay awake, make the effort to catch up on sleep more often.