Centuries ago, in the midst of war, food shortages and disease the population somehow found the time to sleep.

So why now, in a time of relative peace and luxury, are we sleeping two hours less than our ancestors?

Sadly, technology, the basis of progress in America, is the main culprit for our shrinking rest periods. These devices that seem to be permanently attached to teenagers’ hands emit blue light, which during the day increases attentiveness and stimulation, but is an unexpected adversary at night.

After the day is plunged into darkness, our eyes register the change, send a signal to the part of our brain called the hypothalamus, which is the controller of our circadian rhythm, and therefore releases melatonin, signaling to our body that it’s time to shut down.

But this biological clock is fragile, so when you decide to binge watch Netflix, get your high score on a video game, or procrastinate on a history essay, that clock starts to malfunction.

Common results of a malfunctioning clock are bouts of tiredness during the day, interrupted sleep and excessive sleep on weekends to “catch up.” These can all lead to decreased performance in all aspects of life, serious sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and an increased chance of obesity.  

The inability for our biological clock to run on a regular schedule can also be attributed to our growing daily agendas and unattainable goals of perfectionism that are running rampant in high schools.

On an average school day, you find yourself living in a constant monotony of school, clubs and homework. When you wake from your meager sleep, the first remnants of reality shock your body, and you find yourself sitting in the confines of your desk. The next seven hours slowly tick by as the familiar daily routine becomes all-encompassing.

Home, enticing and comfortable, morphs into an extension of the classroom with the constant accessibility technology provides us.

Many of us are locked in this classroom well into the silent hours of night, unable to look away from the screen in fear of due dates, therefore unable to sleep healthily.

Ideally, sleep should be an intricate transformation of the mind and body.

The first stage is indicated by the even firing of neurons and the dampening of our sensory receptors, a sign that the mind has withdrawn from the conscious world.

This is followed closely by the sporadic shock of spindles, which is essential to understanding and remembering the treasures of experience and knowledge gained during the day.

The final two stages are where the body grows and heals, finally removed from the stressors of reality.

These are all the things the body is deprived of when we regard sleep as a waste of time or something to be postponed.

As our calendars brim and academic, athletic and personal expectations wait, strive to allocate at least seven hours to experience the miraculous and critical realm of sleep.