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Survey says: Time to bed correlates with quality of sleep

According to yearly surveys by the American Psychological Association conducted from 1999 to 2004, going to bed earlier and getting a larger amount of sleep helps the body regenerate so that a person can stay alert and in-tune with their everyday activities.

Surveys show that the time a person goes to sleep has a direct   affect on the quality of sleep that a person receives. In other words, the more sleep a person gets, the better the quality of sleep they will have.

“Psychologists say that [teens should sleep] eight hours, but it is hard to say because everyone has different sleeping needs,” AP psychology teacher Mike Lum said. “Six hours for one student may be too much for another.”

For example, sophomore Brooke Gardner said she feels ready to wake up in the mornings because she is used to being alert so early.

“I usually go to bed around 9:30 or 10, depending on how much homework I have,” Gardner said. “It is not really [difficult to wake up in the morning], even though I wake up at 5:30.”

According to Lum, because everyone’s bodies are built differently, each is set differently as to what time they are able to wake-up and go to sleep. Problems with sleep may originate from this as their everyday schedule may not fit their sleeping schedule.

“Work or school start times cannot be adjusted to fit a person’s sleep schedule,” Lum said. “People who have trouble crawling out of bed probably have an inner clock set to late wake-up and sleep times, a condition known as phase delay.”

Sophomore Talon Zimmerman said he receives a minimal amount of sleep, but manages.

“I’ve had problems sleeping for many years, [but] I don’t think much of it,” Zimmerman said. “I [always] feel like I want to get [more] sleep, [although] I get less sleep on the weekends, but I still manage to stay energetic [and awake].”

While students like Zimmerman can live off minimal sleep, sophomore Nariah Holmes said she has trouble focusing when she receives little sleep.

“When I don’t get enough sleep I [don’t] want to get up in the morning,” Holmes said. “I end up rushing to get ready, and my day starts all wrong.”

The use of electronic devices like computers or cell phones also causes lack of sleep.

“Your brain will take the images into your sleep patterns,” Lum said. “The brain could take some time to sort out all of that information and as a result, it could take longer to move into the different stages of sleep.”

While Lum said he believes this to be true, junior Megan Williamson disagrees saying she finds no difficulty sleeping after using any type of electronic.

“I fall asleep after using a computer and I do not find it any more difficult after using [it],” Williamson said. “Sleep just comes easily to me.”