“Lose the Snooze”

By: Lara Tabbara

Edited by: Danya Nahas, Haya Aldabbagh, Leena Khan

 

 

Not getting enough sleep isn’t a new problem, it's been in the world for a long time, especially in the Arab world. AIS-R being in the center of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is a common issue for AIS-R middle school students to be sleep deprived. The problem is, the issue isn’t addressed nearly as much as it should be. The main reasons that students do not get the proper amount of sleep is either finishing school work, or more commonly nowadays, being on your phone talking to friends or on social media.  In Saudi Arabia, AIS-R has a significant number of arabs. The Arab culture tend to stay up late for any reason, unlike Americans in this school.

 

Part of the Arab culture is waking up for the Fajr prayer at sun rise which is now at 3:54AM which cuts down on the time you have to sleep. Not only that but Arabs commonly work with late hours part of the reason is the weather, due to the fact that it is extremely warm, during the day and cooler at night.

 

For the Arab culture, sleeping late is common, unlike Americans. Evidencer shows from the 8th grade survey, an Arabs common time to sleep is usually much later than the time Americans go to bed. Just a few of the things on the long list of things lacking sleep can cause are severe medical issues, along with lack of concentration, headaches, crankiness, laziness, and many more.

 

Out of 324 Middle school students at AIS-R, 30% are Arab. From the Arabs, 35% of them get 8 or more hours of sleep, 22% get 6 hours of sleep. Out of the 28% students in the Middle school that are North American, 48% of them get 8 or more hour of sleep, and 8% get 6 hours. These statistics show how North Americans get more sleep than Arabs.

 

Abbi Jeffers an American 8th grader says she goes to sleep at around 10:45PM, allowing her to sleep around 7 hours a night. Mr. Ricks is an American teacher, who despite having small children, manages to sleep at the relatively early hour of 8:30 PM. For Salma El-Fouly, an Arab student, it’s completely different, “I usually sleep at around 11-12,” says Salma. Noor Al-Toukhi, a Saudi 8th grader, also sleeps at 12 AM every night.  

 

A survey sent out to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders showed that it is the female students that lack sleep more. Ironically, in 8th grade, the students that are sleeping less are getting better grades, than the ones who are sleeping more. For 6th and 7th graders, the less they sleep, the worse their grades are. Also, there are no 6th graders that get less than 4 hours of sleep, unlike 7th and 8th graders who have a couple of students who sleep for less than 4 hours.

 

“On average, a teenager should be getting around 8 hours of sleep a night in order to function properly,” says TIME Magazine. As you get older the chances of you getting 8 hours of sleep decreases, as it is clearly displayed on the survey that was sent out to all middle school students of AIS-R. Also, Mr. Blazek, an 8th grade humanities teacher at AIS-R, mentioned that he’s already planned that the older his daughter gets the later she will sleep.

 

There is no exact explanation for why people have the mindset that the older you are the later you sleep, but possible reasons could be that the older you are the more independent you are. Your workload increases as well, and you get more electronics as you grow older, which distracts you from sleep.

 

Farah Al-Takrouri, and eighth grade NJHS member, said “I always staying up late to finish extra work”. Studies have proven that sleep is more important than staying up all night studying for a test. Andrew J. Fuligni, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA, studied and presented the sleeping and working habits of teenagers. He found that students are more likely to perform better if they get more sleep.

 

On the other hand, Caden Baker and Khalil El-Hajjal, average 8th grade students, never seem to lack sleep because of homework. Instead they lack sleep because of social media or because of adjusting to sleeping early after the weekend, when they sleep really late. Also Zein Holail, another 8th grader, who misses school frequently because of fatigue, says he struggles to sleep early although he gets in bed at a reasonable hour. He stays on his phone socializing with others or on social media. “On average, I get around four hours of sleep,” says Zein.

 

“My body feels heavier when I don’t sleep, and I feel like I don’t have the same amount of concentration as I do when I sleep well.” Says Mira Fostoc, an NJHS member. This piggy backs on what Andrew J. Fuligni studied. To add on, Mira says “usually if I do lack any sleep it's over a stress for a test, project, or school work.”

 

“Proper sleep for teenagers is extremely important for proper growth,” says the National Sleep Foundation. In middle school especially, sleep is critical to enable your growth due to the fact that students typically hit their growth spurt during middle school. Also when you get a get a good night's sleep your overall look and mood feel better and more fresh. “When I do get a good night's sleep I feel so active and happy that next day but when I don't I'm so tired and stressed out the next day,” says Haya Al-Dabbagh, an average student.

 

The topic of sleeping habits is very controversial for the eighth graders, because some of them worry about not getting enough sleep, while others don’t worry enough. “I don’t think I need to [change my sleeping habits]”, says Zein Holail. Leena Khan, an outstanding student, member of NJHS, the international duck committee, and the Student Council, has a different opinion. “I usually worry about how much sleep I get, so nowadays my parents have been concerned about my usual lack of sleep, so they are monitoring my sleep to ensure I get enough.”

 

  Student’s lack of sleep have gained parents’ attention. Schoolwork and social media are two of the biggest causes for the lack of sleep. “Getting the proper amount of sleep will allow you to go through a day with a happy and cheerful” mood, as Farah said. Make a change in your life, make a schedule of some sort to enable you to sleep for longer, and to help your overall well being.