Society pressures high school students to take on more than they can handle. In their struggle to manage school work, stress, extracurricular activities and a social life, an estimated 85% percent of adolescents in the United States fail to get the recommended 8-9 hours of sleep per night according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Langley junior Ameen Al-Dalli got the opportunity to share his experience with sleep deprivation on National Geographic’s documentary Sleepless in America. “A neighbor of mine is part of this nonprofit organization known as SLEEP, and they were looking for high school students to speak at the board of supervisors meeting in April, so I volunteered,” said Al-Dalli. “A few weeks before the meeting, National Geographic contacted SLEEP asking if they could include two Fairfax County high schoolers in their documentary about the im- portance of sleep. Since I was already working with the founder of SLEEP, Ms. Phyllis Payne, she introduced me to the producers, and it springboarded from there.”

National Geographic Channel, The Public Good Projects and the National Insti- tutes of Health collaborated to produce Sleepless In America, which premiered on Sunday, No- vember 30th 2014, revealing the importance of sleep on resetting your brain and body’s health. Al-Dalli was featured in a segment on high school start times, which addressed the damage of early start times on adolescents as well as the Start Later for Excellence in Education (S.L.E.E.P.) program founded by parents in Fairfax County.

In the program Al-Dalli spoke about needing 3 alarms in the morning just to get
up, and his inability to get more than 7 hours
of sleep. Eryn Cooper, a senior from Oakton High School, also spoke about her struggle to get a full night’s rest, and her misery of knowing how exhausted she’ll be the next day. Langley senior Ali Farzad said, “I tend to come to school 4 out of 5 days too tired to even notice how miserable I feel. While I can definitely account for headaches and just overall slower mental performance in school, it’s hard for a sleepless student to actually realize the full effects of our problems as we lack both the necessary perspec- tive and even the energy to take note of such things.”

The effects of sleeplessness are as numerous as they are severe; surveys conducted by National Geographic show that receiving less then four hours of sleep a night can lead to a rise in the consumption in fatty foods, and an increased risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovas- cular diseases. Recent studies suggest that lack of sleep can increase the risk of Alzheimers, as the chemical linked to the disease are cleared from the brain during lengthened periods of sleep, and shorter hours can lead to high levels of the protein. Short naps do not solve the matter; during the time an individual spends in a state of rest, the body makes use of the downtime to heal injuries and replenish vital aspects of the bodies various systems. According to CNN, the body requires a lengthened period of time to conduct this properly; favoring short naps over long periods of sleep can hamper recovery. Driving whilst drowsy is one of the largest killer’s of today’s motorist’s; over 100,000 reported crashes a year are related to fatigued individuals (according to DrowsyDriving.org,) resulting in 12.5 billion dollars in damage and 1550 fatal casualties on a yearly basis.

Grades, school and sports are undeniably important. However, students must remember that while they build their resumes, they must also take care of themselves. The effects of a sleepless night are not lost on anyone. Can a high schooler drive a car with their eyes closed? Can a student write an essay with their head on the paper? The statistics show; sleep is essential to a teenager’s ability to navigate the intricate world of high school, and without it, everyone suffers.