Why can't we sleep in study hall?
By Judy Choe
November 22, 2017
By Judy Choe
November 22, 2017
Lights turned off in the classroom during a video shown on projector screen, empowering waves of exhaustion previously suppressed throughout the day. The unlucky boy or girl begins to bob their head like a fishing bobber atop water, eyes drooping fatally from the weight of their lethargy. A late night study session had robbed precious sleeping hours, and now, the efforts they mustered in order to stay awake are to no avail.
Perhaps this predicament resonates with you. Such situations where the lights are turned off are arguably the bane of sleep deprived students. The mental casualties behind headbanging humiliations and startled awake states are obvious, but how about the predicament that lies in damaged states of health?
Many studies have suggested that the average amount of sleep recommended for high school students is about seven hours. Unfortunately, there are many students who do not or cannot reach that health quota number: our own high school, included.
Students are always expressing their exhaustion and lack of sleep to me during visits. It’s something of a big concern,¨ notes guidance counselor Kimberly Cavitt, attesting to the localized nature of such tragic knowledge.
Now, an exhausted mind is obviously not optimal for absorbing lessons from any school curriculum. A remedy to that predicament might materialize through a free class, or study hall. If the sleepy student in question is afforded freed up time in their study hall, would it not be better to catch a few winks in that unoccupied period, rather than nod off during formal classtime? Bringing up a noteworthy consideration, perhaps students should be allowed to sleep during study halls.
Study hall itself is formally defined on the front page of google results as the ¨period of time in a school curriculum set aside for study and the preparation of schoolwork.¨ Based off the above definition, sleeping during sleep halls is negligent behavior for studentkind. Despite that, one should consider still how student perspectives and teacher perspectives might vastly differ.
¨Staying awake and learning in school is just like your job, you know? Like how teaching to a teacher is their job¨ thoughtfully muses Hampton High School’s resident nurse, a prominent advocate for student welfare. Counselor Cavitt further elaborates upon the idea of a student’s obligation to stay awake: ¨it is the responsibility of students to get their sleep at home. Rather than sleeping during school hours, children should structure better habits in time management and energy replenishment at home.¨
Interestingly enough, the input of a third source in Mr. Kemmer suggests slightly more lenience, as the teacher states that teacher permission for students to sleep during study halls should be situational. ¨When life’s stretching you too thin, it can’t be helped if the student needs some downtime¨ he notes with an air of empathy, though ultimately retaining the views of Hampton staff members above him: that sleep should still be the student’s at-home obligation.
The remarks by the above Hampton staff members all border the same principle, emphasizing the professionalism that accompanies the day-to-day lives of high school students. Their median consensus is that, most of the time, students should not be allowed to sleep during study halls. On the other hand, the faculty should be more accepting towards the idea as it directly benefits them at no discernible expense.
With approval or disapproval of the topic expressed depending on the interpreter, be they student or teacher, only one understanding is widely interpreted the same. Not enough students nationwide and in Hampton High School are securing the clinically recommended seven hours of sleep. What this means for the students’ capacity to learn and engross themselves in their course studies is certain. Through sleep deprivation, their learning rates are most definitely suffering.
Perhaps this predicament resonates with you. Such situations where the lights are turned off are arguably the bane of sleep deprived students. The mental casualties behind headbanging humiliations and startled awake states are obvious, but how about the predicament that lies in damaged states of health?
Many studies have suggested that the average amount of sleep recommended for high school students is about seven hours. Unfortunately, there are many students who do not or cannot reach that health quota number: our own high school, included.
Students are always expressing their exhaustion and lack of sleep to me during visits. It’s something of a big concern,¨ notes guidance counselor Kimberly Cavitt, attesting to the localized nature of such tragic knowledge.
Now, an exhausted mind is obviously not optimal for absorbing lessons from any school curriculum. A remedy to that predicament might materialize through a free class, or study hall. If the sleepy student in question is afforded freed up time in their study hall, would it not be better to catch a few winks in that unoccupied period, rather than nod off during formal classtime? Bringing up a noteworthy consideration, perhaps students should be allowed to sleep during study halls.
Study hall itself is formally defined on the front page of google results as the ¨period of time in a school curriculum set aside for study and the preparation of schoolwork.¨ Based off the above definition, sleeping during sleep halls is negligent behavior for studentkind. Despite that, one should consider still how student perspectives and teacher perspectives might vastly differ.
¨Staying awake and learning in school is just like your job, you know? Like how teaching to a teacher is their job¨ thoughtfully muses Hampton High School’s resident nurse, a prominent advocate for student welfare. Counselor Cavitt further elaborates upon the idea of a student’s obligation to stay awake: ¨it is the responsibility of students to get their sleep at home. Rather than sleeping during school hours, children should structure better habits in time management and energy replenishment at home.¨
Interestingly enough, the input of a third source in Mr. Kemmer suggests slightly more lenience, as the teacher states that teacher permission for students to sleep during study halls should be situational. ¨When life’s stretching you too thin, it can’t be helped if the student needs some downtime¨ he notes with an air of empathy, though ultimately retaining the views of Hampton staff members above him: that sleep should still be the student’s at-home obligation.
The remarks by the above Hampton staff members all border the same principle, emphasizing the professionalism that accompanies the day-to-day lives of high school students. Their median consensus is that, most of the time, students should not be allowed to sleep during study halls. On the other hand, the faculty should be more accepting towards the idea as it directly benefits them at no discernible expense.
With approval or disapproval of the topic expressed depending on the interpreter, be they student or teacher, only one understanding is widely interpreted the same. Not enough students nationwide and in Hampton High School are securing the clinically recommended seven hours of sleep. What this means for the students’ capacity to learn and engross themselves in their course studies is certain. Through sleep deprivation, their learning rates are most definitely suffering.