After staying up till 1 am to finish that last piece of homework with whatever energy you had left, or coming home from your conditioning practice only to find you have three tests the next day, the last noise you want to hear in the morning is that infamous beeping of your alarm clock.

A common problem found for a majority of teenagers is getting an insufficient amount of sleep at night.  At Pentucket High School, many students suffer the struggles of being deprived of a reenergizing slumber.

Senior, Tia Pittounicos, when asked if she felt energized, comments, “Heck naw. It takes me forever to fall asleep and I sure as heck ain’t a morning person”.  Pittounicos adds “When I don’t sleep, which is a lot, I’m pretty much a psycho.”

In freshman health class, students learn that the recommended hours of sleep is between eight and nine. Health teacher, Mrs. Cartier-Creveling (also known by the student body as Mrs. CC) collects a survey of kids in class on their nightly hours of sleep.

“The majority of the class get around seven hours of sleep, some even varying an average of five a night.  There is only about one person per class who gets the recommended eight.” Pentucket’s health teacher explains.

A huge factor of the student body’s lack of sleep at night is related towards homework and extracurricular activities.  Students are recommended and even encouraged to become “involved” in the school through sports, clubs, etc.  While participating in their daily activities, the students are also expected to maintain a strong and constant academic performance, many students enrolled into AP classes as well as keeping a strong grade average.

Junior AP student, as well as varsity athlete, Kiernan Haley suffers a deprivation of sleep. Haley explains “in the morning I feel exhausted and the end of the day is when I begin to wake up. It really affects my morning classes more than anything,” and not so conveniently, Haley’s morning classes include double block AP Bio.

Between sports and homework, another factor of students being deprived of sleep is the constant accessibility to technology.  While social media and messaging were created with good intentions, the constant need to be in the loop is starting to take over the lives of teenagers.

“My technology effects how long it takes to do homework and how much sleep I get for sure.  It’s almost addicting,” Pittounicos explains.  While nearly everyone knows technology is a major distraction, many cannot pull themselves away.

Health teacher, Mrs. CC is even aware of teenagers’ distractions and comments, “A major part of this generation is social media and keeping in constant contact with friends.  I recommend taking all technology out of the bedroom; make it a room for just sleeping.”

Although lack of sleep is an expected part of teenagers’ lives, it is important that it does not become drastically out of control, effecting kids in school and life.  With small adjustments to classes, sports, and technology, it is thought that enough sleep can be developed in teens’ lives again.