An army of sleepless zombies are on the loose at Spanaway Lake. There is a recognizable amount of students who suffer from sleep deprivation, which can lead to very dramatic affects on students’ stress levels, as well as overall their overall health.

This is an epidemic that is having a huge impact on society as a whole. More and more Americans are having feelings of anger and stress. The majority of these feelings are a direct result of inadequate sleep.

According to a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, Americans get sleep; just not enough of it. When you get less sleep than you need, it can affect your mood, temper, and productivity among other things.

These were the typical responses from students when asked about how much sleep they are getting and how it affects their mood. The results show that there is a direct correlation between sleep and stress levels.

As many as 47 million adults may be putting themselves at risk for injury and health-related problems because they are not meeting their recommended dose of sleep every night. That is nearly one-quarter of adults in America.

Students at Spanaway Lake High School were surveyed, asking them how much sleep they get on an ordinary school night. The results were shocking.

The average teen’s alarm clock goes off at around 6:30 a.m. every morning. This is a mere seven hours from when teens generally fall asleep. In adults this amount of sleep is acceptable, however, in teenagers who are biologically driven to sleep longer and later than adults do, the effects of insufficient sleep are likely to be even more dramatic.

This sleep deprivation is affecting students’ ability to function. There can be little question that there are negative affects linked to adolescents’ lack of sleep. Many students at SLHS reported that they often fall asleep in class. This is not a big surprise because the average student at Spanaway generally gets 7.5 hours of sleep every night.

The only way for students to overcome this lack of sleep is to simply get more. Students should not wait until 10:00 p.m. to start doing their homework.