Sleep hygiene is a key component when it comes to a teen’s mental, physical, and emotional development. Kids between the ages of 13 to 19 are supposed to get between eight to ten hours of sleep every night but most of the time they get around six and a half to seven hours. In total only 23% of teens in high school get the recommended amount of sleep every night.

A person that is sleep deprived can start to experience symptoms like fatigue, drowsiness, and headaches. If this pattern of bad sleep hygiene continues it can lead to negative long term effects. In extreme cases being sleep deprived can worsen anxiety, and depression. Along with this, a student’s academic performance can also decline while they are experiencing the consequences of not having enough sleep. No one would want to experience this, so what are possible factors that can cause a student to get to this point and how can it be fixed?

Some of the things that can contribute to teens being sleep deprived are phones, overscheduling, and too much homework. Phones disturb a person’s ability to sleep because of the blue light that their screen creates which also directly interferes with hormones that help you sleep.

Overscheduling can cause students to push themselves too far which can lead to an inconsistent sleep schedule. To limit this issue students should try to make time for breaks and focus on tasks individually instead of trying to focus on multiple things at once.

An over abundance of homework can cause an unnecessary amount of academic pressure. This pressure causes students to stay up later so they can complete all of their homework. Sadly there is no way to make homework magically disappear, but eliminating distractions, prioritizing work based on their deadline, and taking breaks along the way can help ease some of the stress.

If these strategies did not work, do not be afraid to reach out to your teacher or your peers for help.