Sleep-deprived or just bored in class, you close your eyes for a few seconds to try to get rid of that annoying drowsiness… and the next thing you know, your teacher is standing by your side, trying to wake you up from dreamland. 

Students have slept in class ever since the first school was created. But these seemingly innocent classroom naps can send a negative message about how much you care about the class.

“I think sleeping in class is bad because it draws the attention away from the teacher and to the student, which makes the teacher need to interfere and wake the student up. This requires the teacher to restart the learning session and it may take a while to get all of the students’ attention again,” said Josh Asturias (‘23).

Depending on the teacher, seeing a sleeping student may prompt them to change their teaching style or affect their mood, impacting other students. 

“Sleeping in class is offensive to us because, as teachers, we put a lot of time and effort into these lessons and when students come in and sleep in class it shows us that our time isn’t valued,” said AVHS English teacher Chelsea Blea.

Teachers are an indispensable part of the education system. It’s crucial that they stay consistent and educate students well, but if we want that to happen, it’s the students themselves that have to be ready to listen first.

Some argue that students who sleep in class are generally very tired from the night before and don’t have ill intentions, but that isn’t sufficient justification. 

“If you need rest and are actually tired, you should stay at home where you can get the rest or sleep that you need. When you’re at school and you’re trying to get the rest, you won’t get the quality [learning] that you need,” said Blea. 

In order to actually learn in class, students need to learn how to prioritize their own bodies first. Skipping first period is better than going to school and not only getting poor rest, but possibly being written up or reprimanded.

It’s plain that sleeping in class is disrespectful and disrupts the classroom and learning atmosphere. To stop students from falling asleep, society needs to start normalizing the prioritization of students’ health before their academics, and recognize that some days, getting a good education means staying home for an extra snooze.