Do you find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning? Have you ever fallen asleep in class? If the answer is yes, then you’re not the only one. Across the world, bedtimes are getting later and teenagers are sleeping less.
What are the reasons for this? Well, stress is an important factor Like many young people, I find it hard to go to sleep before a big event such as an exam. Our increasing use of technology may also be to blame? New research at Kings College London, involving 125,000 children and teenagers on four continents, shows that using a phone or tablet before going to bed makes it twice as likely you’ll sleep badly that night. And the following day, this lack of sleep can make it difficult to concentrate on studying.
But while many schools are attempting to solve this problem by starting the school day later, some schools in New Mexico in the United States are trying something a bit different - they have installed sleeping areas, where students can sleep for 20 minutes in specially designed chairs. I recently fried one of these chairs and my first thought was that it looked like something from a science-fiction film. When I lay down on it, the top part slowly covered my head and upper body so that it became dark inside. Some people might find that scary, but I didn’t mind, and the gentle music was quite nice. I started to feel sleepy, and that was all I could remember until the lights went on and I woke up. Then, when I got up, I noticed I was a bit calmer than I’d been before. I’m sure someone who had slept badly before they went to school would feel a lot better.

Planting trees
By Mark Rotheram, aged 13
This spring, our teacher suggested we should get involved in a green project and plant some trees (14) the school. Everyone thought it was a great idea, but we found that choosing trees was quite (15) . If we want them to grow properly, they had to be the right type. Our teacher suggested that we should (16) trees that grew naturally in our part of the world. That way, they would be used to local conditions.
Then we had to think about the best place for planting the trees. We learnt that trees are happiest where that have room to grow, with (17) space for their branches. We tried to avoid trees (18) students were very active. Finally, we found da quiet corner close to the school garden – perfect!
Once we’d planted trees, we knew we had to look after them carefully. We all are (19) turns to check the leaves regularly. In case they turned yellow too soon, that could mean the tree was (20) .
We all knew that we wouldn’t be at the school any more by the time the trees grew tall, and that was a bit sad. (21) , we’d planted them to benefit not only the environment, but also future students. We knew they’d get as much pleasure from them as we had. And that thought really cheered us up!