As teens in America, we have all of our basic necessities: food, water, clean air and shelter. In addition, we are blessed with luxuries that make our lives easier: cars, nice clothes, computers, cellphones, ect. But, if there is one thing we are being deprived of, it is sleep. Scientists agree that people should get at least eight hours of sleep a night, if not ten for teenagers. Most of us, however, are receiving about half of that. While our adolescent brains and bodies are still developing, sleep is completely essential, and many adults especially, do not seem to understand that. If teachers, coaches, and parents all took the time to appreciate the fact that we need as much rest as possible, teens would not be the stereotypical tired grouches that they have been described as for years.

Teachers may be the biggest culprits in denying teens the ability of getting the desired ten hour night of rest. By not communicating with each other well, each teacher assigns extreme amounts of homework each night, sometimes taking an hour or more to finish the assignment in just one subject. With students in our day in age being extremely driven, they take on difficult schedules in order to stay competitive in the college application process. AP and honors classes begin to stack on top of each other, and before you know it, you have no art or study hall. Not to mention, these are the classes that assign the most work, so one student could have up to SEVEN hours of homework in one night. Even if they began at 2:30, with no distractions at all, they would finish around 9:30. This situation is obviously preposterous though, because no one could work for that long without getting up, eating, or going to the bathroom. With these, it leads more in to the 11:00 range, still leaving kids with about seven hours of sleep: which is under the initial goal of eight. If teachers would communicate with each other more often about the types of assignments they were handing out, and when they were due, the problem of extreme piles of homework in one night could be avoided. Students could get their work done in a much more timely fashion, and end up going to bed hours earlier. This way, we would be falling asleep in our own beds instead of on their desks each day.

For many kids, a great way to let off the stress of school is through a sport. Most of the time, this is a great tactic; it is a lot of fun to get to just blow off some steam and have a laugh with your teammates every day, and winning your game, match, or event is an awesome mood booster. However, with each positive comes a negative, and here it is the fact that sports are extremely time consuming. Coaches do not seem to make the connection that while we are athletes, we are student-athletes, and school always must come first. I understand that you should know what you are getting into when you sign up, but sometimes, the amount of time things take can surprise you. I have been in my high school soccer program for three years, and along with a new coach this season, our team has experienced many changes in terms of time we’ve clocked: we have two hour practices, an extra hour of yoga on Wednesdays, team dinners, films, practices on Saturday mornings, walk-throughs, and we still have yet to have a day off. If you ask me, or anyone on our team for that matter, that is a heck of a lot of time spent with soccer and away from our homes. We struggle every day to get our homework done before 11:30, as do all of the other student-athletes in our school. Not only are the sports physically draining us, but mentally as well, and though we are all good students, it probably takes away from our abilities in the classroom each day. Coaches need to realize that sports are not the only things in our lives, and though important, things like homework and sleep need to take precedence sometimes.

Parents are like the Silent-but-Deadly killers in the world of sleep deprivation. Though always seeming to have their best interest in mind, they will sometimes stack up all the things that their teen much do that day, which not only adds stress, but takes time away from the teen’s already busy schedule. We get texts throughout the day of reminders of things to do when we get home: “Take out the trash”, “Don’t forget to write your thank-you notes!”, “Make sure you clean your room today”, “Did you clean the cat litter? If not, do it.” Even though they are just little chores and things of housework, they build up. Not to mention, some jobs are a lot bigger than others, and you could be stuck with three big things to do in addition to your countless other responsibilities. Sometimes, parents just are trying to be nice and they seem to forget that you may have important things to do. They’ll ask you if you want to go out to dinner, or if you want to sit down to watch your favorite show, and these are opportunities you cannot just simply miss out on. Honestly though, when it comes to their child’s sleep habits, parents sometimes are just plain ignorant. Every night, when I am in my room doing homework, my mom shouts up, “Hey, are you in bed?” and every night I say I am. Every morning, when I am still asleep in my bed, my dad shouts up, “Hey, are you awake?” and every morning I say I am. I tend to just tell them what they want to hear. Parents have many ways of distracting from their kid’s need for sleep, and though not purposeful, they are sometimes the most difficult to get away from.

In the modern world, teenagers’ not getting enough sleep is a huge problem which can have several harsh effects on their lives. Tiredness causes a lack of focus, which results in poor performances in the classroom and on the sports field. It can cause depression, forgetfulness, weight gain and other insomnia related health problems. Recent studies have shown that fatigue causes about 100,000 automobile accidents each year, and this crash rate is greatest among people under the age of 25*. The adults in our lives should take note—the lack of sleep they are causing us is triggering more problems than us just being tired.