It’s 8 a.m. on EMU’s campus. Some professors are greeting their first class of the day, a mixture of students prepared for the day and, perhaps more commonly, who show signs of having awoken about ten minutes prior: dreary-eyed and pajama clad with coffee in tow, largely unable to keep their head off of the desk.
Across campus, the sleep habits of students vary greatly, from the early risers to the late-nighters, which translates to the late-risers who occasionally sleep in and miss class.
Junior Michaela Lane goes to sleep on average between midnight and 1 a.m., sometimes as late as 3 a.m., only having to wake up for class at 9 a.m. the next morning.
“I feel tired, but I’m used to feeling tired so I just push through. But some days I feel more tired than others,” Lane said.
Senior Stephanie Gilberston echoed Lane, but provided an example of the other extreme. While Gilbertson goes to sleep between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., she usually gets up at 9:45 or 10 a.m. Gilbertson sleeps in since she has afternoon classes.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that college students receive at least seven hours of sleep each night.
While Lane and Gilbertson are averaging this amount each night, the time that Lane goes to sleep and the time that Gilbertson wakes up differ from the national average.
According to a 2015 study conducted by Edison Research, more than half of Americans are awake by 6:30 a.m. and are preparing for their eight-hour workdays.
College students, on the other hand, are likely still asleep at this time. There are student athletes who have to wake up early for workouts as early as 6 a.m., others still asleep due to late-night activities.
EMU’s theatre program regularly has rehearsals that run as late as 10 p.m., going as long as midnight during the week prior to the show. According to the online events calendar, a number of activities have late-night end times: open climbing wall (10:30 p.m.), trivia (10:30 p.m.), and open gym (midnight), to name a few. Enjoyment of activities pushes the bedtime of students nearer to midnight. Gilbertson argues that “unless you are doing an extra project or homework,” there is no need to stay up late.
The concept of staying up late is not exclusive to college students. For many, it originated in high school. Warren Miller, a current senior at Broadway High School, goes to bed on average between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. He spends most of his time doing homework from when he gets home to about thirty minutes before bed.
One proposal has been made in Rockingham Country Public Schools totry to accommodate students who regularly wake up late. The proposal would push class start times back to 9 a.m. instead of the current 8:15 a.m. Miller argues against this idea: “While it would be nice, it would not be great for extracurriculars, and it would end up being the same and having students go to bed later,” Miller said.
A similar idea would receive the same response from some EMU students. “With classes starting at eight or nine, we get our day over sooner,” said Lane.
Regarding college students staying up past midnight, Miller said, “if they can avoid it then they should, but if not they should talk to someone and try to [get to bed] at least before 12.”
