In pre-school, students are offered the fulfillment of a nap in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, this privilege is taken away from us the second we get to elementary school, and it’s never given back. 

In elementary school, it’s not a huge deal to not have nap time because you’re at an age where you get off of school earlier, your bed time is controlled, you’re not doing difficult work, and you’re mostly just getting used to the idea of working for the whole day. 

Middle school is where it starts to get harder. You have more teachers, you talk to more people, you start getting into extracurriculars, and sometimes you’re assigned homework.Your school days are more mentally and physically draining. 

In high school, class periods are longer, workloads are larger, extracurriculars are more demanding, and your grades are actually starting to contribute to your GPA, meaning you need to be on top of your work in every single class in order to maintain good grades. 

Yes, we have an advisory and a lunch period, but your lunch period is for eating lunch, and many people utilize advisory time to catch up on work or get ahead on homework. These times serve a purpose that is not relaxation. 

However, even if someone did want to take a nap during advisory, it would be nearly impossible to find a comfortable and quiet place to relax. 

What we need is a designated time in which students can relax in a quiet room where they’re not required to do any work and they can just take a brain break. 

Additionally, according to WebMD, naps are beneficial to relieving stress, they can improve memory, and they can better help you form connections between learning topics. 

High school students are also at a very developmental point in their lives. If they’re not getting enough rest, it is significantly more likely that their brains won’t develop as well as they should.