Commentary-Third Trimester: Barbara Holland's In Defense of Naps

                Nowadays it seems as though people are almost in denial of their need for sleep.  Almost every high-schooler spikes their day with some sort of coffee or energy drink.  Homework stretches late at night and pushes hours of sleep farther and farther away.  Between-class discussions are often a comparison as to who is living on the least amount of sleep and who was lucky enough to be in bed before midnight.  Despite the jokes that surround the problem, such as “who needs sleep anyway? Sleep is just a myth,” students really do need better ways to efficiently and productively work through their days without being deprived of sleep.

            In Japan, sleeping on the job is admirable.  It is seen as a sign of working very hard, enough so that one is just too exhausted to stay awake.  In fact, some employees even fake being asleep on the job in order to appear more dedicated.  However, school doesn’t allow for even a chance to rest throughout the course of the day. Even while listening, students are told to pick their heads up from the desk or to look at whoever is speaking.  Even though both of those are courteous things to do, sometimes a students’ eyes need some rest, or if they put any more focus into holding their head up then they won’t have the focus to concentrate on the subject. 

            Once we are at home, the allure of sleep is even stronger.  We attempt to do our homework somewhere more comfortable than the desks that we’ve been at all day, and a new dilemma of focus reveals itself.  Sleep becomes either a reward that we must look forward to after working for a few more hours, or a forbidden fruit that tempts us every few minutes.  Drifting off for a few moments feels almost shameful, productivity slips away and procrastination attacks.  With all the pressure that is put on students to get good grades, anything that may drag them away from that expectation will eat away at us.  Stress builds up and sleep is the first thing to go since it is something that is moderately within our control.  What students need is to find a way to recognize that sleep doesn’t need to be avoided, however that’s far easier said than done when homework continues to pile on as well as tasks from home, jobs, and extra-curriculars.

            Perhaps a small nap upon arrival at one’s house wouldn’t be the worst idea.  If one can collapse on the couch or a bed after getting home and forget all their troubles for a fraction of an hour, then they might be more motivated to work upon awakening and they wouldn’t spend every other minute of work wishing that they didn’t have to be working.  The perception of time and the way that it moves when one is tired is confusing and often stressful.  Hours move by without warning when deadlines are approaching, minutes move far too slowly when one is near desperate to get somewhere else.  Perhaps if we just took a few minutes to slow down in this hectic world and appreciate sleep, then perhaps sleep itself, or lack of it, wouldn’t be such an issue.