[Yesterday, in my world history class, I fell asleep.] [We were watching a movie about the Spanish Armada, and I tried to keep my eyes open, but when I let my lids drop for a second, I was out.] I suddenly jerked awake and realized I’d been sleeping for several minutes. [Before I fell asleep the Spanish ships were just approaching the English Channel; by the time I woke up, Sir Francis Drake had driven the Spaniards back to Spain.] [Sometime I might try to figure out how Sir Francis did this so fast.] [For now all I want to do is figure out how to get more sleep, preferably at night in my own bed, instead of at my desk in school.]
[I’m not the only student dealing with this problem; many of my fellow students also need more sleep. Not all of them are falling asleep in class, but many are not at their intellectual best because they have not had enough sleep.] How much am I talking about? According to an NPR report, teenagers need “about nine hours each night.” Most of my friends don’t come close to getting that amount of sleep. [The answer isn’t just getting students to go to bed earlier because for most teenagers, that won’t work. The answer is arranging things so teenagers can sleep later, and this means starting school later.]