By Victoria Moffatt and Nevaeh King

Every fall as students come back to school, one question rings throughout the classroom: Why are students tired? Despite the fall weather and the excitement for a new school year, students are more tired than ever and it’s not just about students going to bed late, there’s a bigger issue. 

According to the CDC, teens need about 8 to 10 hours per night to function the next day. Yet more than half of high school students don’t get enough sleep. Some of the reasons can include: participating in extracurriculars, homework, jobs, video games and late night social media scrolling, especially Tiktok. By the time the alarm rings, the majority of students are far from refreshed.  But why do these factors stop teens from getting all 8 hours of sleep? We spoke with  Janiyah Chambers, a senior at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, who shared, “I stay up on my phone watching Tiktok or Instagram, or it’s because I take a nap after school preventing me from falling asleep later… because school is honestly draining and I just need a mind reset.” 

Many students, especially at Poly, are juggling heavy homework loads from their multiple classes, especially the AP and honors courses. Joy, a junior at Poly, stated, “ I spend 1 hour on average each night” for each class. Not only homework but projects, classwork assignments, studying for tests. This often leads to late night or early morning cramming of material. 

Transportation…. another hidden factor 

Transportation is often an overlooked issue. Not every student has access to a car or lives on the bus routes. Others rely on public transportation, meaning students sometimes wake up even earlier to catch the light rail or bus.  Some teens take 2 or 3 buses just to get to school — no wonder students are running late and arriving with low energy. Chinzere Wright, a senior, stated, “I wake up at 6:50 and get to school usually around 8:20 because I am too tired to wake up earlier. Well, I used to catch the bus but they all run super super early and school isn’t that far so I’ll just be at school extremely early. So my mom takes me, but she also has to take my sister to school, so that takes up time. Also the bus drivers do not come at their scheduled times, so it really is a hit or miss.” On top of that, there are days where public transportation delays and weather issues can make commutes longer which adds to the stress of students. After a full day or longer, the commute home can be just as exhausting and stressful as arrival. This often leaves students tired with homework, and it’s a never ending cycle. 

We also observed another issue: school start times. 

Poly starts at 8 am, and students are expected to be here even earlier than that. A lot of students wake up at 5:30 am or even earlier on a school day just to get to school on time. This clashes with students’ sleep cycles. For many teens, it’s harder to fall asleep early because our body has shifted to sleeping at later times. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that high and middle schools should start after 8:30 to help students have a healthier sleep cycle. But most if not all schools would not make that change.

Tell us, Poly: do you get enough sleep?