It’s 12 p.m. You didn’t get much sleep last night, and the teacher in the front of the room is droning on and on. Your eyes begin to flutter closed, and your head is on the desk. It isn’t long before you drift off to sleep.

It’s no secret that high schoolers don’t get the 8-9 hours of sleep they should be getting. After long days of school, and then possibly an extracurricular or job, it seems impossible to fit in 3-4 hours of homework afterwards. Many students stay up late doing homework to then wake up early for school the next day. It’s a never-ending cycle.

When surveyed, the majority of iSchool students felt like they could use a naptime period. In fact, 75.5% of the students who answered said that they believe there should be a period for nap time.

When asked why, the responses varied. One anonymous freshman said, “nap time is wasted on kindergartners tbh. All I want to do is sleep. It would recharge me and also I would get to sleep more. Nap time is good for your brain probably?”

That is indeed true; according to Sleep and Learning, “…the benefits of napping for memory and learning are well described. “Even a brief bit of sleep helps reinforce learned material,” [Jennifer Goldschmied] says.

“Senior year is too much I need sleep man,” said one senior.

And a sophomore responded by simply saying, “School is boring and I want to sleep.”

The most reasons for why we should receive a nap period were that students are tired and don’t get enough sleep during the night. Many even said they had problems focusing in class because they are so tired sometimes.

Fortunately for us, a period to nap may be the solution to that problem!

Naps are proven to have many benefits, pertaining to learning, processing information, and focus. According to the Sleep Foundation, “Naps can increase alertness in the period directly following the nap and may extend alertness a few hours later in the day.”

Freshman Jesse Hoffman agrees: “I think we should have a nap period maybe like once a week because people would be more awake in class. I’ve seen people fall asleep in class, I fall asleep in classes. I think people would be focused more and be doing a lot better in school if we have a nap.”

Many also agreed that the naps don’t have to be long. “There is scientific research that states there are benefits to 15 minute naps. If we just had a 15-30 minute break for students to recharge for the rest of the day, I think we would be good,” says iSchool junior, Samantha Lucien.

Photo courtsey of https://lifehacker.com/how-long-to-nap-for-the-biggest-brain-benefits-1251546669. This chart outlines the ideal times you should take a nap depending on what you hope to gain from it. In the case of students, a 10-20 minute nap is most ideal for alertness and energy.

Despite the overwhelming amount of “yeses” to naps, a good amount of iSchoolers said that we shouldn’t get a nap period.

One anonymous junior stated, “We’re old enough to take care of ourselves and be responsible for our own schedules, of which includes sleep. It isn’t the school’s duty to be providing sleep for us. Also, ‘nap times’ would probably be abused anyway and used to do homework/study/text friends/watch Netflix.”

They’re not exactly wrong.

But junior Olivia Toussaint disagrees, “I don’t think that students will be unproductive during the nap period. It’ll be a brain break- we should take the time to sleep.”

“If people knew that there was a period where they could sleep, they will look forward to it [and not use it to do other things],” Lucien says in agreement.

Other no responses stated that we already have a nap period, Independent Work, but this isn’t exactly true for everyone.

Independent Works were created specifically for students to do work, so often times students will be woken up by their proctor if they happen to fall asleep.

One anonymous junior wrote, “While I believe that being well rested improves productivity, having ‘nap time’ during the school day may become destructive. During independent work periods students should be able to do whatever they want, even if that means taking a nap.”

Maybe if teachers allowed for students to naps during their independent works, they could be more productive for the rest of the day. “It’s not like I’m disturbing anyone if i’m asleep. I should be able to either be productive or sleep during my independent work,” says Toussaint.

But can a nap really solve the solution to teens getting enough sleep?

According to Harvard Women’s Health Watch, “Nap only if necessary. Night owls and shift workers are at the greatest risk for sleep debt. Napping an hour or two at the peak of sleepiness in the afternoon can help to supplement hours missed at night. But naps can also interfere with your ability to sleep at night and throw your sleep schedule into disarray.”

Whether or not nap time in high school becomes a thing, it is safe to say that the real solution to staying focused in school is trying to get enough sleep at night (even if that means not completing your homework).