On average, teens need 9 hours of sleep a night. However, in the attempt to balance homework, extra curricular activities, part-time jobs, and a social life, many teens do not get the sleep they need.

Though it may just seem like a regular routine, sleep is one of the most important factors in your health and well being. According to the Sleep Foundation, not getting a sufficient amount of sleep can harm your ability to learn and listen.

Teens who experience sleep deprivation often have trouble staying awake and concentrating in class, which can negatively impact their grades. Sleep deprivation can also make people more prone to acne. It also increases chances of overusing caffeine to stay awake, which can have negative consequences.

“It [lack of sleep] makes it difficult to focus in school, and I am too tired to try to think about whatever class I'm in.” Says Mia Rocco, an Arrowhead high school junior.

According to the National Sleep foundation, teens have irregular sleep patterns throughout the week, staying up late and sleeping in on weekends but waking up early on school days.

However, it’s not always the teens fault for staying up late. Biological sleep patterns show that  during adolescence, the patterns shift later times for going to sleep and waking up. On average, it is normal for teenagers to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm. 

In addition to their biological sleep patterns being set back, teenagers are busy trying to balance school, social life, and a jobs; thus, sleep becomes their last priority. The common enemy of sleep, procrastination, affects over 70% of students.

However, just like teenagers are predisposed to a later bedtime, they are also predisposed to procrastination. According to Dr. Piers Steel, the prefrontal cortex of the brain, where will power comes from, is still developing when people are in their early twenties. Thus, teenagers and young adults are distracted easily and are more likely to chose to save homework for later and thus stay up too late.

Sleep deprivation can have life threatening consequences as well. When someone is sleep deprived, they are impaired as someone who is driving with a blood alcohol level of .08%, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Sleep deprivation causes over 100,000 crashes a year.