It’s now 1 a.m. and there are still five more pages of math to do.  Instead of listening to the body pleading for sleep, the pencil keeps writing.  Semester tests are closer than ever, and for some students that means giving up sleep.

“On a daily basis, I would say I stay up until midnight just doing homework,” sophomore Cathryn Doty said.

Doty said it wouldn’t be so bad to stay up so late if she didn’t live at Antonino.

“I have to get up at six in the morning to start getting ready for school,” Doty said.

Statistics from the National Sleep Foundation say teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns during the week. They typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep.

Teacher Jill Blurton uses a sleep activity during her “Stress Management” unit in Health and Wellness.

“I trained in ‘Progressive Relaxation and Relaxation Technique’,” Blurton said. “So, I like to use these techniques to help students relax and in turn, hopefully sleep.”

Blurton said she has seen students far more tired in the past six or seven years than ever before.

“I am totally convinced that laptops and cell phones are keeping students up at night and they come to school exhausted,” Blurton said.

For others, school work doesn’t have an effect on their sleep.

“I make sure I get my work done,” sophomore Janae Gagnon said. “I stress about homework, but not to where stay up until midnight. I usually go to bed around 10:30 p.m.

Gagnon said it wouldn’t be hard for students to get sleep as long as they managed their time.

The statistics from the National Sleep Foundation also shows that sleep deprivation contributes to illness, not using equipment safely or driving drowsy.

The Foundation reports that one solution for this consequence is to decide a time to go to bed and get up and try and stick to it even on the weekends. Additionally, the Foundation said a consistent sleep schedule will keep one from getting tired and stay more alert as well as make it easier to fall asleep at bedtime with this type of routine.