Students unable to sleep
COMMENTARY
Emily Baker

There is a reason I don't keep a gun close to my bed, aside from the fact it isn't allowed per my apartment lease. I know if I had a firearm within reach, I would have long ago slammed a .38 slug into the glowing green face of the critter that sits on my bed-side table.

That critter, of course, is an alarm clock. It faithfully does its duty to wake me each morning. In spite of my lack of appreciation, it never falters and operates as gracefully as an alarm clock can.

But an unfortunate fact of nature remains: The colder it is outside, the harder it is to emerge from the cozy envelopment of warm covers. And with final-exam season approaching, the elusive restful snooze will be harder to catch.

Dozens of studies have been conducted that suggest college students don't get enough sleep. A study recently cited in the Journal of American College Health reiterates what the other studies found. This latest study, completed at Louisiana Tech University, found that 15 percent of college students have sleeping problems, compared with nine percent of the rest of the adult population.

The most common sleeping problem affecting students, according to the study, is insomnia — which means either trouble falling asleep or trouble staying asleep for more than six consecutive hours. Based on that definition, many of us are school-induced insomniacs. In other words, we don’t get more than six consecutive hours of sleep because we can’t afford to sacrifice study or work time. It is pretty sad that we have to trade our health for a good education.

Some might say students would have better sleeping habits if they would forego the parties. It’s not that easy. I can testify that those of us involved in student publications hardly have time to crawl out of the lovable black hole called the newsroom. Most of us don’t have time for parties to begin with, and I know the same is true for other majors as well.

Aside from that, parties are just part of the college experience. We will only be 22 once. Like it or not, college parties are part of American culture. It isn’t fair to expect us to deny ourselves those experiences.
Regardless of why college students aren’t getting enough sleep, there are a few ways to improve the quality of what sleep we do get, according to the American Association of Sleep Medicine.

First, if you can chisel yourself into such a rigid schedule, try going to bed at the same time each night and waking up at the same time each morning.

Second, it may sound like cruel and unusual punishment, but try cutting down on the caffeine.

Third, this might sound like crueler and more unusual punishment, but cut down on the alcohol intake, too. Alcohol increases the frequency of waking up in the middle of the night.

Fourth, train yourself to associate your bed with sleep. If you haven’t fallen asleep within 15 minutes, get out of bed and go do something else until you are tired enough to fall asleep quickly.

By following these tips, hopefully fewer of us will end up using our notebooks for pillows in class. Until then, I hope my alarm clock will forgive me when I curse at it come morning. For now, it’s nap time.

Emily Baker is a senior news-editorial journalism major from Midland.