According to the University of Michigan Health Service, between 30 and 50 percent of college students take naps.
Students sacrifice sleep at night for studying, working, finishing projects or papers and sometimes even parties. There is this mentality of “Oh, I don’t have class until 11 a.m. tomorrow, so I can stay up until 2 a.m. and then nap after class,” when in all reality, naps are not the same or as effective as actual sleep.
Napping during the day all the time gets the body’s internal clock all whacked out. Your body gets used to sleeping for three hours every night, then taking a one hour nap at 2 p.m. every day. So, what happens when you have a final exam at 2 p.m.? Does your body scream “No! It’s naptime!” and you don’t stop yawning throughout the whole test, contaminating your knowledge?
Sometimes, naps just make the fatigue worse. Once all the going, studying, reading and working stop and the adrenaline wears off, you realize how incredibly tired you are, and laying down for a nap tells your body how badly it needs sleep when you try to snooze for 15 minutes. This makes it more difficult to wake up again and get going through the rest of the day.
Drinking caffeine to stay awake also plays a part in sleep. After three cups of coffee, two Redbulls and a shot of Mountain Dew, you’re wired and can’t sleep even when it’s time to rest your head on your pillow. So, this continues the vicious cycle of college life and pushing to stay awake.
College life is demanding and stressful, but students should make every attempt to get enough rest at night, and not just rest your head on your sweatshirt in the lobby of the library for 20 minutes.
No naps allowed
Afternoon snoozing harmful to student health
Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 01:11
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