Article#7

Arlene B. Diaz
An Alarm to Sleepy Heads
The sun is rising this morning. The school is buzzing its way to welcome another day for a fun-filled
learning, chats with your friends at recess, or an opportunity to stare to your crush all day. You could have
enjoyed all these things today—only that your eyes are droopy and all you want to do is to go to dreamland.
Many students today are experiencing sleepiness in class. And such a situation prevents a student to
grab the doors to possibilities he/she could have enjoyed because of this. Most importantly, classroom
performance is at stake.
At this point in your life as a high school student, it’s too early to sleep over what you should take
advantage of awake.

That “Masa” classmate

At one point in our lives, we all have met a “masa” classmate, which is short for “masandal tulog”. One
minute you’re talking with him/her, another minute you would just see him/her snoozing.
An article published in sleepcity.com claims: According to a 2012 study, done by Statistic Brain, only 31%
of high school students actually achieve the average 8 hours of sleep per night.
To know the top-most root cause of this does not take a genius: lack of sleep. Because of the multiplicity
of engagements of millennials these days, distractions come into place. Studying for exams and quizzes, or
finishing up a project are few of the reasons. But sadly, most of the time, it is for lesser cause such as over-
spending of time on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. As these online platforms provide
endless posts to read, memes to laugh at, or videos to tap and watch, a student may not notice that hours
have already slipped away; it’s almost morning! This leaves a student but a few hours, if not a minute, to snatch
for sleep before going to school, or in school itself.

When you doze off

And what exactly are the consequences of constantly sleeping in class? Enumerated consequences of
this are as follows (from sleep.lovetoknow.com):
 You might miss a test date that has been rescheduled
 You might miss an important lecture
 Your grades overall will start to suffer
 Your classmates and teacher will take you less seriously
 Your snoring might be a disruption to the class
 You might make it a habit to nap in class and sleep less at home
 Class might end early and you might be left behind

Stay Awake
Here are the stay-awake tips that you can do in order to keep your eyes open and thoughts staying
alert in class:

 Take a nap or close your eyes before class, if possible. Power naps are actually powerful tip. It is said to
be a good habit to have in order to improve alertness. But make sure it’s on before or after class, not
during class, okay?
 Wiggle your fingers or toes or rotate your ankles. Wiggling your hands and rotating your ankles are
simple exercises that could make you stay alert. It also does not take too much effort and attention that
they can be performed while in your seat and listening to a lecture.
 Ask a friend to tap you on the shoulder. Knowing the possibility of sleeping, ask a favor to your seatmate
or best bud to tap you lightly just to make sure that when your eyes are starting to get heavy and close,
you will be alerted back to being awake.
 Go to class slightly hungry, rather than right after eating. Having a full tummy gives us a sense of
comfort. And too much comfort and relaxation are actually the pre-requisites for sleepiness. So might as
well take a walk after eating during lunch. It might also save you from getting that bulging tummy!
 Have enough sleep. Finally, the grandest tip of all! There is no other best answer for lack of sleep but to
have enough sleep. Make sure that you would be able to go to bed early without any distraction such
as your cellphone. Give yourself a good night sleep. You deserve it.

Sleeping itself is a good thing. But everything done at the wrong time needs to be looked at again.
Sleeping early at night is correct, but sleeping in class is otherwise. Now that you know the reasons,
consequences, and tips to do, it’s now the time to start doing the right thing.
Stay awake!
http://www.ibtimes.com.au/students-lack-sleep-due-late-nights-early-start-school-affect-test-performance-3-
key-subjects

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