SCHOOL VS. SLEEPING: HOW TO BE HEALTHY

How to Adjust to a Healthy Sleep Schedule for Success

BY ALANNA DAVIS

Staff Member

With the new school in session, teens are finding that they have to make significant adjustments to their sleep schedule. Even with online school last year, students received much more sleep due to several factors. For example, students didn’t have to worry about driving to school, catching the bus, or preparing lunch in the morning. As a result, students were able to wake up at a later time, and therefore, get more sleep. According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the sleep hormone in teens, known as melatonin, presents itself about Sleep is like the golden chain that binds our health and body together. “ one hour later in teens than it does in adults. However, before -Thomas Dekker most teens go to sleep, they are occupied with their electronic devices, such as their phones or laptops. Whether electronics are utilized for homework or simply American actor ” entertainment purposes, its effects can be detrimental to teen health. The blue light from electronic devices is known to suppress the release of melatonin in the body, throwing off sleep schedules, and resulting in less sleep for teens.

Nighttime shift work can have one of the greatest impacts on teen circadian rhythm. In particular, many students have part-time jobs. Senior Antonia Alfaro, works five days a week at Chick-fil-a. She often works night shifts after school and usually doesn’t get to leave her job until 11 p.m. Working a shift until such a late time disrupts her nighttime sleeping hours. Senior Autumn Beha is an IB diploma candidate. Driven and hard-working as she is, Beha often feels overwhelmed with her workload. As a result, she often stays up rather late to complete her homework. “I definitely got to wake up later with online school, which felt rather convenient. For instance, with online school, I only had to wake up about 30 minutes before school started. However, with in-person learning, I have to wake up about two hours before school starts. As a result, I find that I am getting less sleep than usual. This is especially the case when I have a lot of homework or tests to study for. I am often up late on school nights, staring at my computer screen for quite a long time, which I believe is the most influential factor regarding the decline of my previously healthy circadian rhythm,” Beha explained. This disruption in the teen sleepwake cycle may decrease mental and physical capacity, as it results in an increased feeling of tiredness for teens as they go about their daily routines. Changes in the body’s natural sleepwake cycle can cause sleep disorders and may result in various health conditions such as depression, seasonal affective disorder, and bipolar disorder. For students eager to get a good night’s rest, Alfaro recommends drinking warm tea, doing yoga, and stretching before bed. “It really helps me to de-stress and take my mind off of school for some time before heading to bed,” notes Alfaro. Overall, taking time for yourself and staying off of technology the last half hour before you go to bed, can be truly beneficial for your sleep cycle. When it comes to sleep, students should make it a priority to go to bed at a good time. It is recommended that teens get seven to eight hours of sleep, and with such an optimum amount of sleep, students may find that they feel more focused and energized.

Fast Fashion vs. The Planet

How the Choices you Make While Shopping can Affect the Environment

BY CHARLOTTE DOWDY

Staff Member

These days, trendy, cheap clothes are available at the tap of a button. That seems great for consumers, but is it really? H&M and other fast fashion stores, like SHEIN and Forever 21, aren’t as virtuous for the environment or their workers.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines fast fashion as “clothes that are made and sold cheaply, so that people can buy new clothes often.” Just one issue: the fast fashion industry is responsible for 8-10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. As the EPA reports, about 85 percent of all textiles in the US end up in landfills or are burned.

“Fast fashion is pretty bad, ethically speaking,” freshman Noah Nguyen said. “When you’re buying from places like SHEIN, it is bad quality clothes for dirt cheap. It seems like child labor, unpaid labor, or taking shortcuts with adverse effects on the environment is usually the only way distributors can make the clothes for that price. Additionally, hen the clothes go out of style, they end up in landfills, which isn’t great.”

In 2021, it’s easier than ever to purchase clothes. The UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion says that the average consumer buys up to 60 percent more clothes than they did 15 years ago. Tik-Tok and micro-trends are partly to blame. Micro-trends are smaller trends that rise in popularity in days or weeks- and fall even quicker. As of fall 2021, sweater vests are hugely popular. On H&M’s website, the cheapest of the bunch is $12.99, and the most expensive is $39.99. In contrast, a hand-knit sweater from Etsy starts from $76.50. Instead of buying one sweater that will last a long time, consumers purchase multiple iterations from fast fashion stores that will end up in a Goodwill in six months.

That said, there’s no problem with experimenting. The issue is

It seems like child labor, unpaid labor, or taking shortcuts with “

adverse effects on the environment is usually the only way distributors can make the clothes for that price.

-Noah Nguyen Freshman “

News | Fall 2021 11 Fast Fashion vs. The Planet

when it goes to excess. All over social media platforms like Tik-Tok, there are thousand-dollar SHEIN and Zara hauls where influencers share their latest purchases with eager followers. Micro-trends are featured on TikTok’s elusive “for you page”, and in no time, they are everywhere.

“Tik-Tok has a lot of trends that come and go, so people buy clothes more often, which is probably why fast fashion is a lot more popular now,” freshman Matipa Maimbo said. “It’s bad for the environment, but I can understand why people are buying it if it’s all they can afford.”

What if Zara is all someone can pay for? ”It comes down to the corporations,” freshman Kate Nagler said. “Some of them could definitely afford to use better ethics practices, but they choose not to.”

This is undoubtedly the case for H&M- during the 2020 fiscal year, they made $334 million, according to Statista. However, Good On You, a site that rates clothing brands on their ethics, has rated H&M “it’s a start,” which is staunchly at the middle of its ranking system.

Although environmentalist efforts are gaining traction, there is still much progress to be made. H&M’s website states that the company has plans to use only “recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030.” They’ve also started a recycling program, where customers can drop off their old clothes to be reused or recycled. According to Good On You, it uses recycled and eco-friendly materials some of the time and has a policy to prevent deforestation in its supply chain. H&M also has a science-based target to lower its greenhouse gas emissions,

Photo by Charlotte Dowdy

A shopper walks in front of an H&M storefront at Fair Oaks Mall. H&M brought in $334 million in revenue from clothing sales during the 2020 fiscal year.

however, there is no current evidence that it is on track to meet the goal.

While there are only 100 companies that account for 71 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions according to The Guardian, there are things everyday people can do to help slow down climate change. A good alternative to fast fashion is thrift shopping, which has increased in popularity in recent years. Whether it’s corporations or social media that contribute to fast fashion’s disastrous effects on the environment, it’s clear that there is a problem- it’s just unclear exactly how to solve it.