Bring Back Nap Time

Why Teenagers Should Take More Naps

Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash

Most students have reminisced on their kindergarten days, back when there was a designated part of the daily schedule for taking a nap. As we start to get older, we start to miss the once-dreaded part of the day more and more. After a long day of school, extracurriculars and homework, students have little to no energy left. To make matters worse, 73% of high school students do not get enough sleep. This is an issue, as teens need more sleep because they are going through a second developmental stage of cognitive maturation while dealing with the pressure to be successful. Teenagers should take more naps, as they need the sleep to grow and develop, and being too tired gets in the way of that.

Students with poor sleep schedules can often fall behind in school, feeling exhausted and drowsy when they are trying to stay focused in class. Taking a nap midday can refresh student’s energy and help them focus better on their assignments. The average school day in Florida is seven hours, which is a lot for teenagers who are actively growing, and dealing with shifts in mood and hormones.  Additionally, teenage students often have poor sleep schedules, due to getting home late from extracurriculars or pulling an all-nighter to study and finish homework. Teens should be able to take a short nap in the middle of the day, in order to refresh their energy and help them stay focused at school.

One in ten car accidents occur due to drowsiness and tiredness while driving. Young drivers make up for 50% of these. It is incredibly dangerous to drive tired, especially for teen drivers who are relatively new to the road. Being able to take a nap will aid in preventing sleep deprivation, thus making the road a little safer, which is always important for young drivers who are still learning all the ins and outs of driving safety. The last thing they need is to drive impaired by being overtired, which is why naps should be a part of all teenager’s routines.

According to Johns Hopkins, studies have found that people who nap for 30 to 90 minutes have a better memory than people who do not or people who nap for longer than that. Since teenagers have developing brains, they need to rest enough for everything to develop correctly. Sleep deprivation can have long-term effects that are even worse for growing teenagers. Napping would be helpful to make sure teens are caught up with sleep and can develop correctly so they don’t have issues in the future.

Some may argue that taking naps has negative effects, such as a messed up sleep schedule and sleeping too much during the day, leading to less sleep at night. While this can be true, as long as people time their naps to keep the sleep time short, the benefits of napping in the early afternoon outweigh the negatives.

Teenagers should be able to take naps every day, as it carries many benefits that can help them grow and develop their brains. Sleep deprivation is a very harmful thing for growing teens, therefore taking naps can make it easier for them to get enough sleep to function in school, at extracurriculars and on the road. After all, most high school students miss nap time, so schools should think about bringing it back.