Students have been known to improve their performance inside the classroom. Well, increasing the time you spend asleep improves your potential as a human. Added sleep time allows us humans to be smarter, more motivated, more charismatic, stronger, faster, more coordinated and more resilient. If you name a wanted trait in sport or in life, better sleep can likely help you increase it. While it may cause issues, high schools should allow students a nap in the middle of their day.
According to NatinalWidesChildren.org teenagers get about seven and a half hours of sleep. This is not enough to give their best for the day. If they were given a 30 minute nap in the middle of the day, students’ performance in academics and sports would improve greatly.
Most teenagers are terrible at sleep time management. In other words our modern world is simply too advanced for them to get a good night’s sleep. An article from the Common Sense Media, who are the leading source of entertainment and technology for families, states that the average teenager spends about seven hours, 22 minutes on their cell phones.
A study done by kidshealth.org shows that teenagers need about 8-10 hours of sleep. This means in order for them to be up in time for school Most teens would need to fall asleep by 9:30 p.m. Even then it would not be enough for them to get through the day.
A recent study of 3,000 fourth, fifth and sixth graders found midday napping resulted in increased happiness, self-control and academic performance, plus less behavioral issues among the students. Sixth graders who napped three or more times per week saw a 7.6 percent increase in academic performance. “How many kids at school would not want their scores to go up by 7.6 points out of 100?” study co-author Adrian Raine told ScienceDaily.
The same research has been done to college students and similar results have been found. A study in the journal SLEEP found that Stanford basketball players were able to greatly improve their on-court performance simply by increasing their total amount of sleep time.
Players were able to see a big difference in their skill after sleeping 10 hours a night. College schedules allow for breaks between classes to increase brain usage, making napping during the day a good thing
Certain high schools allow students an extra 30 minutes in the mornings, such as Whitney High School. While this does indeed help students’ performance improve it would even more if they were allowed a nap in the middle of the day.
Whitney high’s start time is 8:30 a.m. Their graduation rate is 98 percent as of 2022. However Whitney high school’s graduation rate is 88 percent as of 2016 and their start time was 7:30 a.m. These numbers will tell us that because this school gave their students extra time in the mornings it allowed them to improve their sleep time, which in turn improved on how they perform in school.
While it can be understood that allowing students to nap during the day would have to result in them needing to make that time up, It can be argued that it is worth it. Students would have to get out of school a little later but their minds would be awakened and ready to take on the day, such as if they just woke up for the morning.
While it may not be the best option, schools should allow students to nap in the middle of their day. Considering both sides, it can be said that the benefits outweigh the negatives. More sleep means that students would be more motivated, more charismatic, stronger, faster, better coordinated and more resilient. So, let the students sleep.
