Many students struggle with fatigue, as the teenage years are typically not connected to sleep. Due to homework and extracurricular activities, students often find themselves sacrificing their down time in order to fulfill the different aspects of their lives. But what if there was a way to solve this issue of sleep deprivation? “Naps may solve the problem of chronically sleep-deprived teenagers,” according to coverage by Education Week.
Most schools in the California school district start classes anywhere from 7-8 AM for high school students, leading them to end at around 2-3 PM. However, because of the ever growing competition among students, their day won’t end just yet. Many teenagers are involved in extracurricular activities that last until later into the afternoon. With this in mind, students will more often than not start their homework around dinner time. Schedules filled with heavyset loads of AP and honors courses lead students to stay up past the proper time for bed, causing them to fail to get the recommended 8-9 hours of sleep. Especially due to distance learning during the Coronavirus pandemic, students have to sometimes stay up longer than usual to fully understand the school material. In an interview conducted via iMessage, Diamond Bar High School student Sriya Ponnaganti mentions, “It’s been really difficult for me to properly learn everything during distance learning since the teaching online is limited. Trying to learn things on my own, while still completing the work for my AP classes, as well as participating in extracurricular activities online, has put a lot of stress on my sleep schedule, leading me to sleep at around 3 AM everyday.”
When given the choice to decide between completing homework and participating in extracurricular activities, or getting an adequate amount of sleep, students will commonly choose the path of sacrificing their rest to maintain a good GPA. With this large struggle amongst young adults and students, one way to combat this is with naps. Power napping for 15 to 30 minutes can greatly improve one’s psychological health as well as cure them of sleep deprivation. Additionally, it can help reduce sleepiness, improve learning, raise alertness, boost memory formation, and regulate healthy emotions. Online school is already difficult since it requires one to sit in front of a computer all day, listening to lectures. Self-studying the lessons on top of that is definitely no fun, but with a nap a day, students are bound to perform at a significantly better level than when they are worn out and drained of all their energy.
With the benefits of napping, students will be able to successfully thrive in school. “Daily naps have become a part of my schedule as it has brought my grades up,” Ponnaganti said, “And nothing has helped me feel as energized or motivated to do well in school.” So I encourage you, next time you’re feeling a bit sluggish, to try a power nap.
