Senior Chloe Porter fills her summer schedule with activities similar to any other student. She goes to bed between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. and gets up to feed her puppy at seven. She then goes back to bed for another few hours, getting up around 11 a.m. and noon.

Porter fills her day with activities such as training her new dog, spending time with friends, and “killing time in general” until school begins again. During the school year, she participates in sports and has a zero hour US Government class. This vastly different summer-to-school
schedule means Chloe has a diffi cult time readjusting to school.

Along with summer break comes more freedom and the ability to stay up later. Students relish the extra time for leisure and sleeping-in, but fail to understand the consequence of staying up until three in the morning. They do not realize is they are losing 120 minutes of sleep each night after returning to school.

A study in the Pediatrics Journal reported readjusting from summer to school sleep schedules is a chore for students. Student’s bodies need time to readjust to early mornings, and since most students sleep in during summer this becomes a problem.

In a poll of 10 people here at school, 60% of them agreed that it was difficult to readjust to school mornings.

Another 60% agreed that they felt tired during the fi rst month after new school year begins. All of the students responded that during summer they stayed up anywhere between one to even four hours later than they did in school.

Research shows teens need eight and a half to more than nine hours of sleep a night. To wake up for school at 6:00 a.m., you would have to go to bed at 9:00 to reach the 9-hour mark. But research says teens are just then getting a third daily peak in energy.

Regular bedtimes are a must for students. Inconsistent bedtimes disrupt sleep patterns. For student athletes, the Pediatrics Journal reports they tend to perform better in their sport after a full night’s rest.

To avoid having a tiresome first month of school, experts recommend students should start getting to bed at their regular school bedtimes a couple weeks before the new school year. Students will be more attentive in classes during the sleep-deprived first month of school.

Even though it is not enjoyable to go to bed earlier, but it does help in the grand scheme of things.