Dear school administrators,

Freezing cold, 8:31 am, and half the class is knocked out at their desks. Too many aren’t at school yet. 9:32 am, and more kids are here. But visibly fighting to stay awake. 

Why are these kids asleep during class time? 

High achieving students spend an average of 4 hours doing homework and studying every night. They are put into a neverending cycle of physical and mental exhaustion and sleep debt- unable to give their attention in classes. Not a day goes by where my friends don’t mention how tired they are, how they wish they could go home, how late they slept because of all their extracurriculars and assignments, and even those pulling all-nighters. I, myself, also say these daily. Though procrastination plays a role to an extent, it’s quite inevitable in my opinion-  if I were to come home and do nothing but work, I wouldn’t be much different than a robot. 

Students are sluggish, cranky, and dozing off in class; creating an unproductive, and essentially, ineffective workspace. The solution: nap time for high school students.

Naps in general hold a plethora of benefits. Firstly, a short nap even twice a school week can increase relaxation, mood, and reduce fatigue. Multiple studies by renowned medical centers such as Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic have proven that naps between 30 and 90 minutes showed good signs of memory recall and cognition in subjects. In students, this would mean better productivity, alertness, and focus. 

The CDC recommends that kids aged 13-18 get 8-10 hours of sleep within a 24-hour period, but 70 percent of students get less than 7 hours every night. While these sleep-deprived students are mentally battling themselves to try and stay awake, they focus more on not falling asleep than the actual class. Having a designated time for naps, or even nap pods, which schools like the Las Cruces High School have already provided, would improve the neurological function of teens as proven by a study from the University of Delaware. Study hall periods are common in schools, where students are freely studying or catching up on work, so implementing a napping period beside this would not be much of a hassle. 

And though some might see this as a waste of time, realistically, would it be more effective to teach sluggish students for two hours or teach productively for an hour? Designated nap times built into high schoolers’ schedules would ensure the full attention of the student, thus leading to a dynamic learning environment- where students are actually able to learn.