Workload, stress, and competitiveness lead to a lack of sleep for Upper School students

Junior Mateo Sufuentes wakes up at 6:30 am, eyes heavy and body sore, and heads to school for another day of study.

Playing competitive soccer on top of completing homework takes a lot of time, causing Sufuentes to miss out on some much needed rest.

“I’m getting seven hours of sleep a night, which isn’t as bad as others, at least according to that study.”

“That study” to which he is referring is a 2016 research paper by Catlin Gabel School (CGS) math teacher Kenny Nguyen and alum Isabelle Zheng, Class of 2018.

The study found that ninth graders averaged 7.26 hours of sleep, tenth graders averaged 6.93 hours, eleventh graders 6.89 hours, and twelfth graders 6.85 hours. Additionally, it stated that more students are getting less than the recommended amount of sleep (35.5%) than those who are getting the advised amount (32.4%).

Sleep “is a good conversation starter,” ninth grader Colin Turner said. “Most people I talk to seem to get a number around that average [on the study], about 8 hours.”

Grace Mueller, also a ninth grader, somewhat agreed with Turner’s assessment, but also thought that since the study was conducted that maybe “[the numbers] have improved.”

In her case, Mueller reported, “I’m probably getting eight and a half to nine hours, but I also play club soccer in the spring, so I know that won't be happening then.”

However, as students age, their sleep seems to worsen. Ben Bockmann thinks that the junior year workload is affecting his sleep habits.

“This year, the homework load is a ton, obviously. I usually spend about an hour on the English reading alone, and that's consistently tiring.”

Bockmann is not the only junior to feel this way.

“Junior year is supposed to be hard, and it's going to be,” said Sufentes.

Workload, however, does not just affect the juniors. As senior Will Swan said, “Right now, I’m personally getting six and a half to seven hours, but a bad [night] is six. The workload during the college process is the main reason [seniors] are not getting enough sleep.”

Nguyen’s study reported that seniors averaged the least sleep of the four grade levels, and Avery Pritchard feels that the data still holds true.

“I think those stats are still representative of the senior class... I’d say that I’m in that 70% [of people not getting enough sleep] group.”

Many students don’t seem to be getting enough rest, which begs the question, how could the school help students improve their sleep habits?

“I think that some classes do a good job of limiting the amount of homework that students do a night, but there are still certain classes that assign hours of homework, which makes it hard to do any extracurriculars or have a life outside of school,” said tenth grader Coligny Dana.

Just easing up on the workload is not the answer, though, argues fellow sophomore Felipe Rueda.

“If they gave less homework, that wouldn't be preparing us for the future. This big workload helps us learn to balance our time, which helps us be successful for college and life in general,” said Rueda.

On the other hand, Rueda knows that this amount of work can be difficult. “With all of the other stuff I have to do like soccer and mock trial, [it's hard] to find that balance with spending time with family, friends, and homework.”

Bockmann agrees. "You can't just assign less homework," he said, explaining that he understands why, in English class, for example, students have to "read all of what they assign."

However, junior Megha Alluri feels that even with the current workload, there are things the school could be doing better. “I think the teachers could coordinate more about when they are assigning things. It feels like some days we have stacked days, but others we have almost nothing.”

Senior Amy Wang concurs: “A functioning workload calendar would really be helpful.”

On the other hand, Wang feels that a lot of the issue is embedded in the school’s culture.

“We have, and continue to have, a culture of stress, and a competitive culture. People say ‘Oh, I have three tests today,’ and their friend says, “Oh, I also have three tests AND I got three hours of sleep,’” she explained.

As for basic solutions, Pritchard had one idea. Allowing students to come in late when they do not have a first period class would allow for more sleep. However, Prichard notes that this solution could also prove a “potential logistical and equity problem.”

Bockmann also mentioned the value of an extra hour or so of sleep. “Late starts do help; I get more sleep on late start days,” he said.

Recommendations to increase student sleep. Graphic by Eamon Walsh.

Wang also felt that time management, especially for underclassmen, is part of the issue.

“I think the Foundations class could be used to teach the ninth graders time management skills, like working during free periods, and I think that could be facilitated with upperclassmen sharing their expertise,” she noted.

Turner knows this, even as a ninth grader. “The best thing is for Catlin to encourage students to do homework during their free periods. Some kids, myself included sometimes, leave all of it until the night, and that's when the stress builds up and you're up doing homework until 10 or 11pm.”

Mueller also thinks there are other little things teachers could do. “[Giving] more in-class time for homework [would be nice]. In my past schools, teachers have done that and that has been super helpful, but it doesn't happen as much here.”

Though over 35% of students are getting less than the recommended amount of sleep, Rueda seems to sum up the student body’s feelings.

“It's not a bad thing that Catlin gives us so much homework, but I would like to get more sleep,” he said.