Sleep

If you're a teenager like me, then you probably don't get enough of this. It is what really gets us through a long day, and it is what we need more than any material item we could ever want. It's what keeps us healthy and happy. It's sleep, and our body needs it to keep going.

We learn at an early age that sleep is good for us, but we don't exactly know why. It's not explained until we get to health classes in middle school or high school that they begin to explain what is so important about getting six or more hours of sleep per night. Young kids don't really have the ability to stay up past eight o' clock anyways, so it is not that big of a deal for them. Older kids, though, in high school or middle school, have trouble going to bed because of the sheer amount of things there are for them to do.

I, personally, don't get enough sleep because of the mountains of homework teachers assign me every night (although, that might be a personal problem because I took four AP classes and one advanced class). Other teens will stay up because they are playing video games, watching television, reading, or even just because they can. Sometimes, it's not a matter of wanting to stay up, but having to stay up. You know that giant project you got in AP Chemistry that's due the next day? Yeah, be prepared to stay up until three in the morning just doing that, and then spending the next three hours doing the other homework that you have.

Sleep, it is taught to us, keeps us healthy. But how? Well, for starters, it repairs tissues in our brain and body. That's why getting enough sleep can make you feel refreshed and strong when you wake up. It can also help you eat less (or rather, a lack of sleep will make you eat more). Eating less junk can make us feel better and stay healthier so we can live long, full lives.

So, practice safe sleeping habits. When you are done doing things for the night, go to bed, don't stay up for hours on end playing that new video game you got the other day, and are so close to beating you can almost taste it (not speaking from personal experience or anything...).

Just get some sleep.