Jaden Cochran, Reporter • May 7, 2024
Two students grab a quick nap in one of their classes. (Photo Illustration)
There are many different opinions on whether students should be able to sleep while in class, whether it’s kindergarten or college students. However, at Guilford High School, it’s really left up to the teacher’s discretion. A teacher’s job is to do their best to inform students and help them learn the material, and kids just can not do that if they’re asleep in class all the time. Some teachers, such as Mrs. Avery, believe students should not be permitted to nap in class, with some rare exceptions.
“It’s against my classroom policy,” said Mrs. Amy Avery, Spanish teacher. “They need to manage sleep on their own time, not my time with them.”
While it’s very easy to agree that students need to learn the material and should focus on the task or agenda at hand, some instructors are more flexible than others when it comes to the situation. Students need to understand that structure and productive study habits are important to carry into their adult life, but they are also still kids, who should be given some leeway.
“Students can sleep once in a while as long as it doesn’t turn into a pattern,” said Mr. Dane Johnson, English teacher, “If a student is sleeping in my class while I’m trying to teach, I have to stop it.”
Most students even agree that taking a quick slumber in class is not a good habit to form, but there’s more exceptions than there are from the teacher’s point of view. Students are growing up in a different environment and world than the teachers did, where there are more resources to help in their adult life and they are even able to reteach the lesson to themselves if needed.
“If my work is finished, I have a good grade in the class, and no missing work, I don’t see a problem with sleeping.” said Malia Welch, sophom*ore. “Many different things can cause napping in class such as a child’s home life, so teachers should not be able to punish students for sleeping.”
