In recent years, I became aware to the fact that the elementary schools in our district (along with many other school districts) took nap time away from the kids.

Not only is this strange because of how tired young children can get, they also have to wake up early to get to school on time. I can only imagine how cranky they are!

This also makes me wonder…what about us high school kids?

I’ve seen people rest in class, but some people take naps and fall asleep completely…and instead of wondering whether or not we’re getting sleep or being healthy, we get in trouble.

I understand the concept of having to pay attention in class, but it’s hard if you get 2-4 hours of sleep every night and are expected to stay awake throughout the entire school day. When you get older your “bedtime” gets later and later, and the majority of people I know don’t go to sleep until at least 1 a.m.

I think an easy solution to this is bringing back naps. Instead of 56 minute long periods and lunch being 46 minutes, maybe we could have each period be 51 minutes. Or do 51 minute periods for the entirety of the day, and keep lunch 46 minutes, but the period after lunch could be 57 minutes long, so we could have those 7 minutes at the end of class to hold our heads down and rest for once.

This problem is bad during in-person school, but it is even worse during virtual learning.

So, should we have naps or should school be extended ? What do you think ?