By Garrison Murphy ’15
THE ROUNDUP

No matter what school or grade level, sleeping in class is almost always considered a punishable offense.

If recent studies are true, school officials may want to reconsider how they react to snoozing students.

Scientific studies done by institutions such as NASA have stated the benefits of daytime napping, but high schools have yet to recognize the advantages.

“Napping if used to make up for loss sleep can be very beneficial,” said AP Psychology teacher Mr. Matt Williams ’07. “If you are sleep deprived … a nap would be a great way to supplement your normal sleep cycle.”

Mr. Williams said that the chief advantage of napping is recovering from a less-than-full night of sleep or repaying a “sleep debt,” which many students suffer from.

A current poll on The Roundup website indicates that 79 percent of respondents are sleep deprived with only one percent of voters stating that they enjoy 10 or more hours of sleep.

The human brain and body are also at some of their most crucial and vulnerable stages during adolescent years and a lack of sleep can greatly hinder development, according to Mr. Williams.

“We’re kind of overloaded with homework a lot after school, were expected to do work at school and after school and that really takes a lot of time away from our time for sleeping,” said Joey Underwood ’15, who is a self-proclaimed day-napper. “A good nap like mid-day could definitely help us stay more alert and attentive in class.”

Underwood said that it is difficult for him to stay awake in class at times due to a lack of sleep and napping during study halls and after school gives him energy and focus to continue on with his day.

He cited factors such as after school play practice, voice lessons, homework load and procrastination as causes for his sleep deprivation.

In 1995 NASA released a study  on napping and revealed that taking a 26 minute nap could improve overall mental performance by 34 percent and alertness by percent.

According to a study done by Flinders University in 2006, a 10 minute nap can boost all around mental capabilities for as long as 155 minutes after the nap.

Even with these statistics many teachers find sleeping during the day unnecessary and in some cases rude.

“Sleeping in class is a big no-no … it’s nonnegotiable,” said Dean Mr. Pat Higgins. “A catnap before school is OK but once the bell rings it is go-time.”