DeGrooth, Goodman, Haik 1

Julia DeGrooth, Hope Goodman, and Alisa Haik

Mrs. Oliveira
College Writing
17 January 2017
Tardiness; A Health Issue
High school sports demand time, energy, dedication, and perseverance. Being a part of a
sports team can also allow long-lasting relationships and life skills to develop. High school
student-athletes, however, must make significant sacrifices in order to succeed both athletically
and academically. According to a 2012 study at a private high school in California, 76.7% of
student-athletes reported getting less than eight hours of sleep on an average night (Neale).
Unfortunately, this statistic presents a startling problem because studies prove teenagers need a
minimum of eight hours of sleep to function at their personal bests. Lack of sleep can lead to a
plethora of problems such as inability to concentrate, headaches, mood swings, as well as
reduced immunity and memory ability (Teens). With the majority of student-athletes sleeping
less than the recommended amount, student-athletes often do not function to their full
intellectual, mental, emotional, and physical potentials. To combat this issue, the Westerly High
School late policy should be altered to allow student-athletes to come into school late after losing
sleep the previous night due to a sporting event.
Sleep represents a vital aspect of life; without it, the body and brain will not function
properly. Since most teenagers do not get the recommended amount of sleep, this fact especially
harms student-athletes because when an athlete sleeps, his or her body naturally heals and
rejuvenates small injuries and muscle tears. As a result, the less a student-athlete sleeps, the more
injury-prone he or she becomes. For example, during a 21 month study ending in 2012, 57% of

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the high school student-athletes who reported a lack of sleep, sustained injuries, and 38%
suffered multiple injuries (Neale). Besides risk of injury, academic performance can also worsen
with lack of sleep. For instance, Matthew Lynch, a tri-seasonal athlete at Westerly High School,
stated he usually arrives back at the school around 10:30 or 11:00 .M. after away games
(Lynch). Despite the late hour, he still has to complete his homework, which results in about
five hours of sleep (Lynch). A lack of sleep, as Lynch exemplifies, can tremendously impact
grades. A study administered to students by University of St. Thomas researchers found that on
average, students who receive fewer than six hours of sleep can maintain a 3.3 GPA. In contrast,
students sleeping for at least eight hours can earn a 3.6 GPA (Mccullough). While receiving a
sufficient amount of sleep does not guarantee a higher GPA, it does greatly increase the chances.
This considerable GPA gap indicates just one of the academic repercussions of students sleep
routines.
The effects of lack of sleep also inhibit the performance of student-athletes. For instance,
the Stanford University mens and womens swim teams participated in a 2008 study. For the
first two weeks, five student-athletes maintained their usual sleep-wake pattern. They then
extended their sleep to ten hours per night for six to seven weeks. After each swim team practice
during the study, the five students were assessed for any changes in their athletic abilities. The
researchers found that when the students slept for ten hours, they swam a 15-meter meter sprint
0.51 seconds faster, reacted 0.15 seconds quicker off the blocks, improved turn time by 0.10
seconds, and increased kick strokes by 5.0 kicks. Cheri Mah of the Stanford Sleep Disorders
Clinic and Research Laboratory stated that These results begin to elucidate the importance of
sleep on athletic performance and, more specifically, how sleep is a significant factor in
achieving peak athletic performance (Extra Sleep). Although all student-athletes possess

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different capacities for a given sport, this study suggests the amount an athlete sleeps determines
if the athlete will perform to the best of his or her ability. Ultimately, the Stanford study proves a
lack of sleep will result in decreased athletic performance.
Westerly High School athletics late policy, enacted in 2012, prohibits athletes from
missing school if they wish to participate in a sports practice or game that day. Unfortunately,
when student-athletes return to the school from a game past 10 P.M., preparations for the
following school day often result in athletes staying awake until 11:30 P.M. or midnight.
Consequently, athletes receive limited hours of sleep, making it difficult to attend school on time
with an optimistic and focused attitude. Student-athletes, additionally, must be in their first
period class on time, otherwise they will be prohibited from participating in all after school,
extracurricular activities, including athletics (Student Tardiness). If athletes miss any of the
school day without a valid excuse, such as a doctors note, they will not be permitted to
participate in any sports-related activities. Mrs. Sammataro, Dean of Students at Westerly High
School, finds the late policy for athletes and non-athletes is beneficial (Sammataro). She added
that being tardy in general is frowned upon, and the late policy will help equip students with
the soft skill of time management to benefit them later in life (Sammataro). Although
promptness and time management may help students later in life, the consequences of enforcing
the late policy hinders the athletic and academic performances of student-athletes due to loss of
sleep. With such a strict late policy, Westerly High School unknowingly harms its studentathletes by not allowing an exception for tardiness after late games, resulting in student-athletes
receiving insufficient sleep.
Late nights cause fatigue as well as decreased academic and athletic abilities in the
student-athlete the following day. For instance, a December, 2016 Twitter poll sent out by

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Westerly High school student-athlete Hope Goodman questioned if Westerly student-athletes
believed the late policy was helped or hurt their performance in school and sports. An
overwhelming majority of the respondents, 89%, voted the policy causes more harm more than
good (@hopeegoodman). Westerly High School student-athletes are expected to attend school on
time regardless of the time of their return home from a sporting event the previous night. As a
result, they will often choose to neglect studying and other homework because they cannot stay
awake, or they know the quality of the work will be subpar due to the late hour. This situation
unfortunately harms the student-athletes academic performance greatly. Nonetheless, athletes
will come into school on time regardless of how much they slept because of the dedication to
their sport. Because of the consequences of tardiness, there is a definite decrease in tardiness by
all students with the tardy policy during sports seasons (Sammataro). In spite of this fact,
though the policy increases student attendance, the student-athletes are not awake enough and
alert enough to put forth their best schoolwork. If given an extra hour of sleep after a late game
night, WHS student-athletes would likely see a significant increase in both their athletic and
academic performance the following day.
Contrary to Westerly High Schools athletics late policy, Stonington High School
practices one which allows athletes to come in late and still participate in athletic activity.
According to a Stonington High School junior, Margot Goodman, As long as an athlete comes
into school by the beginning of second period at 8:53AM, he or she can still attend a practice or
game after school (Goodman). If the tardiness can be excused by a valid reason with
documentation, students may arrive after 8:53AM, but must have a doctors note or other
documentation specifying why the student arrived after this time in order to be eligible to
participate in [extra]curricular activities (Tardiness). By allowing athletes to arrive upwards

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of an hour late to school, it gives them the opportunity to recover from a late game or study
night, if necessary. However, at Stonington, more than four tardies in one quarter will result in an
office detention; more than six will result in an in-school suspension (Tardiness). Stonington
High Schools late policy for student-athletes allows them the option to get more sleep if they
really need it, but the limit on tardies holds students accountable and does not let the athletes take
advantage of the policy.
High school students involved in sports tend to receive substantially less sleep than those
who do not participate in athletics. Issues stemming from chronic lack of sleep negatively impact
student-athletes grades and their athletic performance. Although Westerly High Schools athletic
late policy encourages school attendance and time management, it ultimately affects other
significant aspects of the athletes lives. Athletes are more negatively impacted than their non
athletic peers from the repercussions of late games, lasting practices, and arduous school work.
Non-athletes have less to lose when they enter school late. Thus, a new late policy should be
developed with student voice contribution in order to improve the performance and health of
student-athletes. When high school sports teams arrive home from away games past 10 P.M.,
they should be given the option to arrive to school up to an hour late the next morning. This time
is appropriate because in order for the athlete to receive the proper amount of sleep, they must be
in bed around 10 PM. If an athlete arrives back after 10 PM, ultimately they will lack the proper
amount of sleep needed to enhance their performance academically and athletically in the
following day. By being allowed to come in late, student-athletes could get the necessary sleep
they need, complete homework, and possess the focus, motivation, and energy they need to excel
athletically and academically. While administrators might dismiss this idea because studentathletes could conceivably take advantage of the new policy, athletes understand they cannot

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participate in a sport if they are failing classes. Lack of sleep inhibits the abilities of the studentathlete, but a change in policy can help remedy this important health issue.

Works Cited
"Extra Sleep Improves Athletic Performance." American Academy of Sleep Medicine,
ScienceDaily, 10 June 2008.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071106.htm.
Goodman, Margot. Personal interview. 15 Dec. 2016.
@hopeegoodman. "WHS athletes: do you feel that the late policy for athletes is helping or
hurting?" Twitter, 9 Dec. 2016, 11:06 AM,
twitter.com/hopeegoodman/status/807255109042323460.

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Lynch, Matt. Personal interview. 14 Dec. 2016.
Mccullough, Adam David. SiOWfa15: Science in Our World: Certainty and Controversy.
WordPress, 7 Oct. 2015, sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/10/07/how-does-sleep-effectgrades/.
Neale, Todd. Sleepy Athletes More Likely to Be Injured. Medpage Today, 21
Oct. 2012, www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAP/35466.
Sammataro, Carmela. Personal interview. 12 Dec. 2016.
Student Tardiness. Westerly Public Schools Student Expectation Handbook, 2016-2017,
westerly.k12.ri.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/944297/File/Handbooks/WHS
%20Student%20Handbook%202016-17%20FINAL.pdf.
Tardiness to School. Stonington High School Agenda, 2016,
www.stoningtonhigh.org/Resources/Live/Administration/Documents/SHS_Agenda.pdf.
Teens and Sleep. Sleep for Teenagers, National Sleep Foundation, 2016,
sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep.