Sleep Deprived Teenager: Too Much Homework

by Kate
(UK)

I'm writing this at 3:00 a.m. in my local time zone. I'm not procrastinating, I'm just taking a five minute break from all of the work I still have left to do. My headache has gotten bad enough that I need to separate myself from my writing for long enough for my thoughts to clear.

I'm a teenager in the IB program, and I'm chronically sleep deprived. The way that the IB program works is that you are given both international and local curriculum requirements to fulfill, at the same time, despite the fact that the overlaps between the two systems are often not that substantial.

As a result, since the beginning of October (it is now early June), I have had an average of 6 hours of sleep a night. For the last few months, this average has decreased to approximately 4 hours.

There are times, such as tonight, when I will potentially get 2 hours of sleep, if I don't succeed in pulling another all-nighter. Yet, this is the reality in my high school. Right now, I'm texting other friends for homework help, almost all of whom are up and awake. The majority of them will be to bed by 3:30, and up again before 7.

I get heart palpitations, my hands shakes, I've lost all color to my skin - I haven't been outside for more than 45 minutes in months, makeup no longer covers the bags under my eyes, my immune system has begun to fail me (I always have a cold), visual auras have become more commonplace, I have gained weight from the number of times I've had caffeinated products and carbs at all hours of the night... and I'm exhausted.


This is sleep deprivation. Don't try it.

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Kevin: Hey Kate, I can relate. Looking back on my high school years, which were just a few years ago, I can see that I was totally sleep deprived from simply not having enough hours in the day after the demands of school and sports. My high school started at 7:10 AM, which meant waking up at 5:30 each morning to make it on time (there was a lot of traffic by the school close to start time). Not a good hour when homework and a natural teenage circadian rhythm had me up until 11PM or midnight the night before.

It's tough when the system conspires against you. But hey, education and increased awareness of these issues is the best way to change the system, or in the meantime, at least understand what's happening with your body so you can be as strategic as possible in dealing with or knocking off your sleep debt.

From one (former) sleep deprived teenager to another...

Good luck,
Kevin

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