Are you tired, sleepy, or drowsy? Are you waking up with bags under your eyes? Are you getting less sleep than you used to? Is it hard to keep your eyes open in class? No, I’m not trying to sell you anything, but I am trying to point something out. As we mature and progress in our high school careers, we seem to be staying up later and later. If only “nap time” was still a class; most of us would probably be satisfied with a few hours to just relax. But here’s the question:what is keeping us up so late? Well, I decided to investigate.
My first instinct was to ask a few students from each grade what time they normally go to bed. The response for freshmen was 10:00-11:00 pm; for sophomores 11:00-12:00 pm; for juniors and seniors 11:30 to 12:30 pm. All of the times are relatively close, yet the amount of work is definitely different for each grade level. I’m not a senior just yet, but I can definitely attest to the fact that sophomore year is a big step up from freshman year. I can only imagine the work in the years to come. Well, the facts just didn’t add up. I had to dig deeper into the mystery of Pine Crest Bed times.

One thing that I did not factor into the equation was extra curricular activities. These activities play huge roles in the lives of Pine Crest students. From getting up at 4:00am to go to crew practice to staying at school till 8:00pm for Fall Play rehearsals, before and after school activities occupy a lot of time. Students who are involved with these extra curricular activities are required to allot time when they get home to complete their homework and study for tests; this could result in late nights and tired mornings.

There was something missing, something that wasn’t accounted for; and it didn’t take me too long to figure out what it was. The infamous downtime, the notorious Facebook breaks, the homework hiatuses…whatever we call them, we are all basically doing the same thing: taking a break from homework. We need breaks; it’s extremely difficult to do homework for hours upon hours without taking a little breather. But sometimes, these breathers can get a bit “extended” per say. For example, the other day I had to ask a friend a question about a homework assignment. I told myself, I am only logging on to ask a question, then I am logging off. I won’t get distracted. This sincere promise that I often make to myself tends to get broken as soon as I type in my password.

So many new pictures! I have to look at this album. *Click, scroll scroll, scroll…* I’ll log off right n- wait are they in a relationship?… *one hour later…*

Okay, so I think you get the picture, and I know that most of you can relate to this problem. If this doesn’t apply to you/you are have the willpower to log off after five minutes/you don’t have a Facebook or don’t use any other social networking site while doing homework, I applaud you. The internet as well as television can easily become a distraction, and although we need breaks from homework, sometimes. There is a good chance that we would be less tired if we weren’t on Facebook as much and went to sleep earlier. I still am a big proponent of taking breaks to avoid the dreaded “homework meltdown,” but maybe if the breaks were shorter, we would be going to sleep earlier.
With my analysis complete, it was time for a conclusion. I decided this: we are compelled to stay up late for various reasons. Whether it’s homework, extra curricular activities, a “homework hiatus” (I won’t use it again, I promise), or other reasons, our bed times will inevitably get later as we get older. Physicians recommend that teenagers get about 8 to 9 hours of sleep each night. It’s proven to help students excel in school. Being Pine Crest students, we all know that this 8 to 9 hour goal can be difficult to achieve. So you’re probably wondering, what’s the answer to this question, the solution to the sleep deprivation epidemic? Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer, but in my opinion, the key to getting a good night sleep is balance. If you participate in extra curricular activities, you must balance the amount of challenging courses you take. If you make plans with friends, you have to make sure that you prioritize in order to get things accomplished. The bottom line is we simply can’t do everything. Sleep is important, and although our busy schedules can seem endless at times, we must make sure that we include enough sleep.
My detective days unavoidably had to come to an end. Although I did not come up with a definitive answer, there is no exact solution. Everyone must seek out the time that works for him or her. Well folks, it’s no mystery that it’s currently past my bedtime. I should probably go to sleep. Time to put my results to the test!