Sleep should be a top priority for students

Are people getting enough sleep? This question is always a hot topic among sleep specialists and the public (“Get into bed — How well you sleep could affect your health and productivity”; July 22).

According to the National Sleep Foundation in the United States, the daily recommended hours of sleep for young adults (18 to 25), like me, is seven to nine hours.

We may get only around five to six hours of sleep, however, and turn up in school looking like The Walking Dead. Although some students go through this by choice, many of us do not have a say in this.

The workload we are given and other commitments, such as co-curricular activities or part-time jobs, tie us down and cause us to feel weary, affecting our focus in class, control of emotions or health.

This is a concern, and I feel sometimes that the workload of modern-day students should be made more manageable.

However, we should also take responsibility for our lives by getting our priorities right, and sleep should be at the top. We should not sacrifice it.