High school students all seem to have one thing in common… a love for sleep. Although most love it, none of us can seem to get enough of it. According to the National Sleep Foundation, teenagers tend to stay up late at night, and sleep in whenever possible which affects not only their quality of sleep, but also their biological clocks. Teenagers need about nine hours of sleep per night to properly function, yet not many teens seem to get that. One study even found that only fifteen percent of teens reported getting eight and a half hours of sleep on school nights. Studies have also shown that it’s not because teenagers don’t want to sleep, but because their brains are on later schedules and just will not let them. Junior Kennedy Huggins happens to be among those teenagers. “I get about seven hours of sleep per night,” said Huggins.
However, Huggins partakes in daily naps which could have some effect on her night time schedule. “YES. Every. Day,” said Huggins.
Huggins also finds music to help her sleep. “Pandora Ben Rector station always,” said Huggins.
With pandora playing nightly, she leaves her phone charging above her head every night. Huggins is like most teenagers who tend to leave their phones close by while sleeping. Junior Hayden Henry is among those phone-clinging teenagers. “I always have my phone right under my pillow,” said Henry.
Also, like Huggins, Henry falls asleep to music nightly, “The coyote” radio station is the one Henry uses to be exact. Henry runs for cross country and when asked if he had any favorite late night cravings, Henry was more than happy to share. “Bananas because they always help with cramps,” said Henry.
Sophomore Trey Smith plays football, and can also relate to Henry as an athlete. “I think nine hours of sleep is healthy if you’re an athlete, seven if you’re not,” said Smith.
When asked how many times Smith hits snooze before he wakes up he didn’t waste a second on thinking. “Twice always,” said Smith.
Unlike Huggins, and Henry, Smith prefers to fall asleep to no sound at all. “I like it pitch dark, and quiet,” said Smith.