According to Greatschools.org, the amount of schoolwork students face is higher than ever, and balancing grades, other activities and getting the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep for an adolescent seems nearly impossible.
This problem with balancing responsibilities in high school is not exclusive to any one area, affecting cities across the United States. A recent poll of 210 RBHS students found that approximately 33 percent of students prioritize school activities, including homework or athletic activities, compared to 43 percent who prioritize sleep and about 23 percent who prioritize their social life.
Sophomore Kayla Glaser said while she believes social life, sleep and dance are all important in her life, school is always placed first in her mind.
“[School] is just the thing that I spend the most time on,” Glaser said, “and it’s also the thing that you’ve kind of been doing… your whole life.”
A poll conducted by ExamAid and the Association of Colleges in 2003 found that Glaser is one of the minority; two-thirds of students said that spending time with their friends was as important or more important than getting good grades. Sharing similar opinions to Glaser, freshman Jim Hormann said he views his grades as more important than sleep or recreational activities.
“At the end of the day for me… school is going to be the most important thing,” Hormann said, “because… the friends… that you make in high school aren’t going to last that long.”
The amount of sleep he gets, Hormann said, simply depends on the amount of caffeine in his system. “I can do without sleep––it’s called coffee.”
Glaser said she believes not getting enough sleep can hurt someone’s energy levels the next day, but doing poorly on an assignment will undoubtedly have long term effects.
“I think that school and dance are more important because they… will affect me more in the long term,” Glaser said. “If I don’t write a paper well, then that will… affect me when I’m trying to get into colleges, whereas if I miss a night of sleep, I’m not [going to] die.”
Glaser said she believes films portray high school very unrealistically because the students in these films seem to spend no time worrying about their grades. Following these Hollywood interpretations of teenagers, however, there are those who view life outside of school to be more important than fretting over their grades or getting enough sleep. Senior Scott McAfee said because he was able to get such good grades earlier in his school career, he no longer worries about schoolwork and can spend more time socializing or working at the lab at MU, which is his passion.
“[I prioritize] the lab because I’m an insomniac… and I’m tired all the time,” McAfee said. “I average… three hours [of sleep a night].”
According to a recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Health, McAfee isn’t alone, with about two-thirds of high school students getting fewer than seven hours of sleep a night. Dr. Holly Bondurant, a pediatrician at Tiger Pediatrics, said this isn’t a surprise.
“If students do not get enough sleep, they face lethargy, decreased concentration, [and] physical aspects like headaches,” Bondurant said. “My advice is just [to] cut out what is not necessary–which is usually everything but school work, eating well, and [the student’s] favorite extracurricular.”
Biology teacher Kaitlin Rulon agrees with Bondurant and said she believes there should be a balance between these categories, though keeping this balance is difficult.
“Learning to balance [school, sleep, and social life] takes a while. So in high school, when you’re really starting to juggle those things, it [becomes] hard to actually… do all three,” Rulon said. “I think we put a lot of emphasis on what’s going to make you successful as just being what you know, but… being able to work with others… you learn through social life.”
She also said most students put their schoolwork or friends above sleep when managing their time, though without sleep, “you’re not going to be able to do the other things very well.”
Even though Rulon recommends a balance among the three categories, sophomore Lindsay Morrison said she prioritizes sleep and can’t function without it. However, when faced with the choice, Morrison admits she would choose her social life over other options.
“I know…my parents and teachers would want me to prioritize school,” Morrison said, “but I forget… there is a life outside of school and that [it’s] not the only thing I should be focusing on.”
Overall, Rulon said every choice a student makes when it comes to these categories helps to shape how he or she will ultimately live their life. While teachers would prefer that students choose academics, she said maintaining a balance is more important than any one category.
“The one thing that I don’t think students do well… is planning ahead,” Rulon said. “I think when you’re looking ahead, then it’s really easy for those [responsibilities] to fall into place.”
Bondurant agrees and said she thinks students who take advantage of their spare time will maintain symmetry between the categories much easier.
“If one balances their time well, they can easily do well in school, enjoy an active social life and sleep a little,” she said. “[Students should] concentrate on the matters that will build [them] into brilliant adults.”
By Nicole Schroeder
Which of the three categories do you prioritize? Does this affect how you manage the other categories? Leave your comments below.
School, sleep, or social life: a student’s dilemma
May 21, 2014
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