One month down, and we are already starting to feel the effects of a lack of sleep. Therefore, we have chosen our theme for this week to be that of sleep deprivation. This is a serious topic which many students at AHS and abroad often discuss lightly. The following statistics from the Center for Disease Control show us that the effects of this topic are more profound than most think:

•  The National Sleep Foundation suggests that school-age children (5-10 years) need 10-11 hours of sleep daily, teens (10-17 years) need 8.5-9.5 hours, and adults need 7-9 hours.
• Nearly 30% of adults reported an average of ≤6 hours of sleep per day in 2005-2007. In 2009, only 31% of high school students reported getting at least 8 hours of sleep on an average school night.
• 43.7% of Americans aged 18 to 25 unintentionally fell asleep at least once during the day each month
• 4.5% of Americans aged 18 to 25 reported nodding off while driving