The National Sleep Foundation states that teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best (for some, 8 1/2 hours is enough). Most high school students do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights.

APB students were given a survey to determine what kept them up before the crack of dawn. The majority said homework and texting, while others said T.V and Social Networks.

Most teens don’t know that sleep is crucial to the development of the brain. That is why teachers encourage students to go to sleep early before exams and even a regular class.  Sleep is vital to your well-being and is as important as eating and can help you eat better and manage the stress of being a teen.

The majority of APB students said that the reason they go to sleep so late during school nights is because of the large amounts of homework they receive.

Homework is not the only reason why students go to sleep late. Time management also contributes to it. Procrastination causes students to leave everything until late at night because they’ll do fun things first and then school work.

That means school work has to be done before early in the morning. “My homework keeps me away from sleeping. This wouldn’t happen if I wouldn’t have procrastinated. Sometimes I end up sleeping as late as 2 in the morning” Senior Jasmin Venegas said.

As many teens may know, sleeping 3-4 hours can have many effects on the individual.

“I have to wake up super early the next morning to finish doing homework and it causes me to fall asleep in class. I also get in a bad mood when I don’t get enough sleep” Jasmin said

Nowadays, young adults feel a sense of attachment to their phones and view the devices as a social lifeline that they can’t live without. Studies show that cell phones have a great effect on the sleep of teens. Its a temptation to teens to  grab their phone at every hours of the day.

Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MySpace, and Tumblr keep high school and college students up late at night . They even post statuses about being wide awake knowing they should be getting their power sleep.

Senior Daniel Lesama said social networks are the cause of his lack of sleep. “I fall asleep like at 1 sometimes. In class, I don’t really fall asleep I just don’t pay attention as I normally would when I do get the full hours of sleep I need” Daniel said.

“Throughout the day, I tend to get really lazy and off my usual self during the day. Sometimes I don’t even do my classwork” Daniel said.

Watching television is the most dominant pre-sleep activity. Many people cannot fall asleep without the T.V on causing them to watch it every day before bedtime. Late night shows that most teens are interested in cause them to stay up, just so that they don’t miss an episode.

“While I try doing my homework, my biggest distraction are the Spanish novelas on TV” said freshmen Stephanie Miranda.

The shows teens are interested in are on air around the same time they do their homework. Multitasking plays a big role in a student’s life when it comes to doing homework and watching TV.

“I’ve noticed that when I watch novelas, I sometimes push off my homework not realizing that it’s past my bed time. TV impedes me from getting the minimum of 8 hours of sleep” said Stephanie.

    Adolescents who get the necessary amount of sleep tend to have better attitudes, grades, and test scores. Depriving yourself from a great sleep every night can build up and cause harm to your life in almost every aspect.

Consequences for lack of sleep:

• Limits your ability to concentrate in school and forget important information.

• Causes bad eating habits and weight gain.

• Leads to aggressive or inappropriate behavior in school and at home.

• A lack of sleep can cause acne.

Tips for a better sleep:

• Make sleep one of your main priorities.

• Take short naps that are not too close to your bedtime.

• Make your room a sleep haven. Keep it quiet, clean, and dark.

• Avoid eating caffeine and sugar before bedtime because the effects can interfere with your sleep.

• On weekends, try to get about the same amount of sleep you get on school nights. It’ll help keep your sleep schedule regular.

• Don’t leave your homework for the last minute! The quality of your homework will be much better if you put it on the top of your to do list rather than leaving it for last.