Kids and Sleep

As a high school student, something that I'm always worried about is sleep. With school, sports, clubs, homework, chores, and all the other obligations I have, it's really hard to get enough. This scientist talks about the requirements of sleep and how much kids of different ages need.



As a young child, it's not hard to achieve the numbers this man specifies. Even through elementary school and early middle school, the 8-10 hours he recommend is easily attainable with fewer worries and obligations.

However, as kids approach later middle school and their high school years, things change. Homework piles on, along with more frequent and longer sports practices, earlier school start times and later school release times, increased social pressures, and many other stresses that push bedtimes later and later. Many students can find themselves getting six hours or less per night, which can cause increased reaction times, slower brain activity, and overall a less functional person.

Certain proposals have been made with hopes to improve this situation. In fact, here is an article about a petition that I and many others have signed encouraging MCPS to move its high school start times to no earlier than 8:15.

While this potential legislation wouldn't magically fix all student sleep problems, it could certainly help students get more sleep, making them more alert, focused, and ready to learn in school, all things that lead to their success.

Fantasy Sports

If you were to walk down the halls of Blair during lunch or before school, you'd hear all the usual gossip: who likes who or what happened at such and such party. However, you'd also hear a lot of talk about Fantasy.

Now, this isn't the kind of fantasy that includes dragons and magic, but the kind that has point guards, rebounds, tight ends, and touchdowns. Obviously these are different sports, but ESPN has made these fantasy games so readily available that they all seem to mash together in the high school boy culture.


The basic idea of fantasy sports is that you own a team in a specific professional sport such as football or basketball. You are the sole manager of this team and you call the shots, hopefully making the right decisions to win the league and the prize money (if there is any).

This management can be extremely time consuming and can often take time away from school work and other requirements, especially when maintaining multiple teams at once. However, there are some benefits to fantasy sports.

First off, it's a way to connect with your friends on a new level and socialize beyond the mundanity of gossip and schoolwork. Also, it's a way to practice actual business decisions based on research and data.

Overall, Fantasy sports have advantages and disadvantages, but they are here to stay at Blair for seasons to come.