“I put off a lot of things due to my phone being a distraction”
Many teenagers face problems that they feel they’re the only ones going through, but little do most know the problems they have are shared among many other students and peers their age. Everyone knows that juggling school, homework, and any other after school obligations can be tough, especially when you factor in distractions like phones, tablets, and even laptops with tons of different social media sites/apps that can cause many commonly discussed problems.
All teenagers need 9 to 9 ½ hours of sleep daily in order to properly function and be at their best for the day. But most of the time teenagers average around 7 to 7 ½ hours. There are so many factors that can lead to a result of sleep deprivation allowing for teenagers to often not be as great as they can be. At Jamesville-Dewitt High School there have various different class options and depending on the class you could be sent home with tons of homework.
At J-DHS most kids spend around 2-3 hours doing homework, after they finish their school day and after school obligations. Which is pushing their sleeping time back that much more. Junior Janna Van Vranken finds it easiest to study before bed/ while she is in bed. “I physically get into bed at 7 but I study in my bed” explains Van Vranken. Not only does homework and studying push back bed time, phone usage is also a major cause for most of the J-DHS students lack of sleep.
According to various websites changing your sleep schedule multiple times throughout the week can actually play a major role on how you will feel the each day. A lot of students tend to fall asleep a lot later on weekends and wake up a lot later. But then on school nights, attempt to fall asleep a lot earlier and then wake up early for school. Sophomore Avery Young lacks a lot of sleep, she has a changing schedule due to sports practices and depending on the time her sleep schedule can often make shifts. Young explains that “on average I guess I’d say i go to bed around 12:30” which is definitely not enough sleep for a teenager that has to wake up early for school the next morning.
Young spends most of her time before bed studying for any tests or quizzes she may have the next day or doing homework. After getting home from practice her schedule is quite packed considering her homework load.
On the other hand, Freshman Anthony Cawley doesn’t seem to spend as much time on homework an studying, and gets to go to bed a bit earlier. After track, Cawley decides to start his homework and get everything done and gets into bed at a whopping 8:00. Cawley actually reads before he goes to bed putting him to sleep around 9:15. Senior Ben Catania says “I’m normally talking to friends” when explaining what he is doing on his phone, when he should be sleeping.
Homework and can also be a leading cause of stress for students at J-DHS. Students are encouraged to do after school activities and sports, but where is the time for social life? Stressing about having a social life and doing homework and school work is what is stressing kids out the most. Most teenagers spend a lot of time on their phone using social media, texting, or even just checking to see if they’re missing out on anything. This also puts off sleep and causes procrastination.
Students here at J-DHS have struggled to keep up with school work and time management not only because of after school obligations, but also sometimes because of phone usage and procrastination. With procrastinating stress starts to multiply. Senior Abby Palin, says that even just not responding to her mom’s texts can stress her out and make her anxious. Senior Nico Stella explains that sometimes the anticipation of waiting for a college to answer, or respond helps make his phone a leading cause of his stress. “I put off a lot of things due to my phone being a distraction” explains Stella.
Ever needed to raise your hand in class? Well actually different students find it harder to raise their hand in class due to fear of judgement if they get it wrong, or even just getting the answer wrong in general. Students find it easier to raise their hand when in a classroom with people they are comfortable with or when they are completely confident in their answer. Taking chances isn’t always easy, even if it is just raising your hand in class.
Senior Mia Antonucci explains that school makes her anxious because she has to try to get all of her work done before its due date. “Just trying to get assignments done in a timely fashion and making sure its the best quality work that it can be” says Antonucci when describing why school makes her anxious.
Sometimes students can have conflicts going on at home which can add to the stress and anxiety that may have been caused throughout the school day. This could make sleeping and getting homework and studying done on time, much more difficult.
Obviously upper class students have more work that they must take responsibility for but, a lot of underclassmen seem to have many of the same problems as the older students. Upper class students may have more difficult homework and studying to deal with but at the same time underclassmen also have to deal with the same juggling of social life, sports and activities, and schoolwork.
All teenagers and people in general get anxious. But more and more students are getting anxiety due to homework and tests/quizzes given throughout their school day. Stress is what is causing kids to lose sleep, and become anxious. When the work loads students have increases, it makes them even more stressed. Students have a lot of things they must take on and learn how to cope with, but often times it is for the better and J-DHS students are only getting stronger because of it.
