Yasmine Novian

Spotlight Editor

Among the many pressing issues plaguing Milken students is the struggle with sleep. Whether a student is a varsity athlete, an actor in the school musical or just generally dedicated to his or her academics, sleep always seems to be a problem.

With the increased pressures of taking Advanced Placement courses, getting straight A’s and being immersed in extracurricular activities, sleep is often left out of most students’ daily routines.

“I go home after dance practice and nap until 7:00, then I stay up to do homework until about 1:30 AM. I wake up 5 hours later. It has become a vicious cycle.” Jessica Barazani ’13 said.

The results of a survey conducted to determine the reality of sleep deprivation at Milken reveals that the average freshman sleeps 8.25 hours, the average sophomore sleeps 7.5 hours a night, the average junior sleeps 5.15 hours a night and the average senior sleeps 6.5 hours a night.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average high school teenager should be getting 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep per night. While the freshmen fall close to this range, the upper classes are over two hours away from this standard.

Yet, even those who don’t carry an onerously busy schedule still face the reality of sleep deprivation. Throughout the school day students can be found napping on the couch in the library, on the bed in Nurse Joyce Brown’s office, and on the floor.

Jonah Feit ’12 is overheard asking a fellow student if wants to nap with him. Often, remarks such as that can be heard around campus. When asked about their own sleeping patterns, many students have come to view their lack of sleep as something typical among all high school students.

“I sleep one hour a night… but I guess that’s normal,” Sarah Ben-Zvi ’12 said.

Other students take a different approach to their lack of sleep.

“I do not sleep; I’m nocturnal. I’m like a bat, awake all night on the hunt,” Noah Applebaum ’12 said.