How much are you sleeping?

Sleep is a necessity, but how many high school students are actually getting enough of it?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children and adolescents who do not get enough sleep have a higher risk for obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and problems with attention and behavior.

Sleep is so important for development of children and teens and, depending on your age, you need more of it. Teenagers from the age of 13-18 need up to 10 hours of sleep to function correctly. The big question is, how many teens are actually getting that much sleep every night and what are the reasons why they are getting less than the recommended sleep?

Many high school students from G. Ray Bodley reported getting between 6-9 hours of sleep on a night before school. Senior Aiden Franco said, “My sleep schedule varies, but only by a couple hours. I usually go to sleep anywhere from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. and I wake up around 6, so that gives me around 6-8 hours of sleep on a good school night.”

Teens are getting such small amounts of sleep because of various reasons, but the most commonly reported reason, according to TeensHealth.org's study, is that many teens have trouble falling asleep early because teens' brains develop more melatonin (the drug that naturally gets produced in the brain which makes you tired) later at night. Sometimes, this delay causes severe effects to the everyday life of teenagers.

Although school and sleep don't always combine very well, it's important to think about how you can incorporate sleep in to your night a little more efficiently.