Sleep problems in Teenagers

 I know that you might be suffering from sleeping problems. Some teens suffered from sleeping problems around 10 to 12 years old, before turning 13. Sleeping problems in teens are very common. Many of those teens suffer from insomnia, and having difficulty sleeping. Around the hour of sleeping avoid caffeine like coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, and chocolate. The estimation of insomnia in teenagers is as high as 23.8%. 

Some reasons for suffering insomnia are: 

• Schedule, school, stress, university, work. Schoolwork might be stressful for those people because too much work accumulates. 

• Caffeine, teens who drink beverages with caffeine or energetic drinks to stay energetic during the whole day, but that is why they have a hard time falling asleep. 

• Medications. 

• Devices, staying with the device or falling asleep with the device in your hand including phones, iPads, tablets or computers. 

• Spending too much time texting or chatting with friends until late night hours. 

Tips for avoiding sleep problems: 

• Most teens should get 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night. 

• Try a relaxing bedtime routine. 

• Take a warm bath or shower. 

• Reading. 

• Listening to music. 

• Get regular exercises, at least one hour or one hour and a half (90 minutes) before bedtime. 

• Keep the bedroom dark, cool and quiet.

In conclusion, remember to have a balanced life. But also remember to have a good sleep quality and for that sleep for 8 to 10 hours a day. Avoiding sleep problems is very important. If your sleeping issues get deeper, visit your doctor. Finally, have a quiet and relaxing environment for a good sleep. 

By: Alana Garcia 

7th Grader 

Is the Educational System focused on learning or in grades?

NotionPic/Shutterstock. Design: Ashley Britton/SheKnows.

Are we really learning or are we just trying to get good grades? When we come to school we feel pressured to get good grades, because of the impact they will have on our future, but are we learning anything in the process or are we just studying for the tests and right after forgetting?

I personally think we don’t really learn that much when we focus on just grades because grades remove the focus on learning. We are worried about succeeding, but we are not allowing ourselves the chance of failing, and therefore, we're missing out on the opportunity to create significant learning experiences that create real knowledge. To check this theory out, I created a google form asking some students their opinion on the matter and these are some of their answers:

• “I believe that everything revolves around the grades we get, and we got to the point that students don't care about learning they just want to get that A to satisfy them and their parents.”

• “I feel like I learn only to be prepared for future exams just to get good grades, but after the test is over, I forget everything. When I was online, since there weren't many exams, I only did the work to get the grade and didn't learn anything.”

• “To be honest, obviously one learns, but I only do it to pass the grade and be able to graduate, but I especially don't learn much.”

• ‘I think we just come to school for a grade. Even though we learn things,  we judge ourselves by our grades. People think that if u get an F ur a failure and dumb, but if you get an A ur intelligent and a hard worker.’

• “When I was little, I did have the curiosity of learning. As you grow up and have more responsibilities, which gives you less time to care about learning. This forces you to choose priorities, this case being, "surviving the year".”

• “Although our primary attention is getting good grades, I believe that for the most part, in the process of getting a good grade we do learn the subjects we're required to learn. It's more of a subject of what is more efficient, keeping the grading system or eliminating it more together, making the sole focus of students learning.”

• “I feel that teachers don’t encourage our learning but they only help us get a good grade and expect us to get good grades not to really learn. I feel like not only teachers but the whole school should create activities that help us learn and understand topics instead of just putting assignments and expecting us to get an A on them.”

• “I believe that we are really learning most of the time, however, instead of having the motivation of learning something new, the motivation is to get a good grade.”

79% of the students that responded to the form believed that we don't learn much. And if we are being honest at the end of the year everything is just brainwashed. Just a glimpse of what we learned and remember. This is not right. We really are supposed to learn. So I decided to survey the students to see what they think teachers should do:

• “Teachers can make sure that your learning by doing different kinds of work not only worksheets, and summaries to check comprehension, or asking questions. Hands-on projects, trivia games and real-life experiences work better for me."

• “In order to assure that we learn, teachers could use games and activities like hangman and jeopardy. We learn better when we have fun!”

• “Teachers can do games, projects and competitions in the class. When you are having fun and competing, you enjoy learning more. Which makes you much more likely to learn more.” 

In my personal opinion, I believe teachers should do some kind of practice. For example a surprise learning game. Something that doesn't give students a lot of time to practice and see what they remember and based on that, teachers could know what to teach them.

I hope that you understand the situation and try and make this school environment more about learning than getting good grades because in the end what makes a good school is how well the students learn. Not a number.

Maria Alejandra Ramirez

7th Grade