In an ideal word, we would go to sleep soon after the sun goes down and awaken when it rises in the morning. But we have become too consumed by night time activities to accept this fact. I wish we could live this way, as everyone would be happier and healthier, and our daily lives would be much more bearable than they are today.

But instead, we are all tired. I am so tired. The last five nights I have worked at and closed a restaurant and the shifts have been around 4-11 p.m. Today I woke up extremely late, later than school even starts, 8:30 to be exact, and made it to school just in time for second period. And I am still exhausted. I  can barely type on this computer or keep my eyes open.

How am I supposed to focus on my school work when all I can think about is sleep? The night before Tuesday when the new semester began I didn’t get home until 11:30 and didn’t go to sleep until midnight. Then around 4:00 a.m. I woke up and NEVER FELL BACK ASLEEP! I was lying there awake for two hours before I decided to beat my alarm and get out of bed. This almost never happens to me. I think maybe it’s because I was so nervous about not waking up on time that morning or being way too tired to get out of my bed. So when I woke up at 4:00 and realized I had two more hours of sleep, the anxiety of the thought of waking up and being even more tired at 6:00 just kept me awake. So that really sucked.

Starting school at a later hour may seem like an accurate solution but it would only be changing the norm. Students would still be waking up feeling exhausted no matter how early or late in the morning it is. Also, if school were later in the morning that would force the dismissal bell to get pushed back further into the evening of our day. And I know for a fact no one wants THAT. Then, coaches and students in athletics would possibly lose time with their families because of after school practices. Now that’s not fair at all.

There is so much pressure put on graduating teens. To finish all of your excessive school work, hold down a job, continue to contribute to extracurricular and after school activities, all while attempting to maintain friendships, relationships and a social life in the prime year of your life.  And its even harder to get enough hours at your job to pay for gas, food AND save for college. Honestly its almost impossible. I am currently having a very hard time with all of this. Saving money is somewhat easy, but that amount of work that must be done to do so is draining. Pre-cal is straight up kicking my butt and I still have this Newspaper you’re reading right now to worry about.

With all of this going on, sleep is the least important, but it’s always what’s on your mind. Teenagers are taking drugs like vyvance and aderal to stay awake. And a greater percentage of us are addicted to caffeine, already drinking two cups of coffee every morning.

None of this is healthy. Sleep is what is healthy. Everyone in the world needs to relax and take a nap.