According to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, teenagers need about nine hours of sleep a day. When asked about their amount of sleep per day, several Shawnee students of all grade levels  answers ranged from five to eight hours, less if they have heavy homework assigned that day. Lack of sleep in high school students weakens their ability to focus, cope with stress, and work efficiently. This can hinder the student’s grades causing additional stress.

We interviewed Logan Trinkle, (a freshman) and asked her about her sleep schedule, grades, and amount of homework. All in all, Trinkle said ” [my] first year is pretty good so far.” Although her expectations of high school have been a bit different since she initially started, “…she is definitely enjoying her experience here at Shawnee.”  When asked how much sleep she got with her busy marching band schedule, she said “I only got about seven hours of sleep after finishing up my homework.”

High school students of all ages are constantly being put under immense stress to find a job, pick their majors, and get good grades. However, this can put pressure on students to lose sleep in order to finish homework and projects. The rate of stress on students today is higher than ever before. Stress can cause many symptoms, such as low energy rates, headaches, and even insomnia. All caused by too many responsibilities placed on students. This can also affect the student’s emotions, not to mention the already hormone-induced mood swings a teen can have at this age.

Although 2018 is coming to a close, the classes of 2018-2022 have just started another year here at Shawnee. There are many things coming to look forward to, the yearly Halloween Parade, football games, and every student’s  favorite, homework. However, with the new pressure given to students to succeed in high school has started causing health problems due to stress. According to William Crain, a of psychology professor at the City College of New York, “Kids are developing more school-related stomach aches, headaches, sleep problems, and depression than ever before.” (www.huffingtonpost.com)