Horses honed skills such as running, jumping and pulling as humans bred and trained them for various purposes over millennia. And the 151st Derby — horse racing’s most-watched event — will draw attention not only to the animals’ skills, but also to concerns about their treatment and health. Advocates have long raised concerns about deaths and injuries — calls that were amplified two years ago, when
on teen sleep for decades. Wahlstrom developed the free sleep curriculum being used by Mansfield and several Minnesota schools.Social media has been blamed for fueling the teen mental health crisis, but many experts say the national conversation has ignored the critical role of sleep.
“The evidence linking sleep and mental health is a lot tighter, more causal, than the evidence for social media and mental health,” says Andrew Fuligni, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and co-director at UCLA’s Center for the Developing Adolescent.Nearly 70% of Davis’ Mansfield students said they regularly feel sleepy or exhausted during the school day. But technology is hardly the only reason. Today’s students are overscheduled, overworked and stressed out, especially as they get closer to senior year and college applications.Chase Cole, a senior at Mansfield who is taking three advanced placement and honors classes, is striving for an athletic scholarship to play soccer in college. He plays on three different soccer leagues and typically has practice until 7 p.m., when he gets home and needs a nap. Cole wakes up for dinner, then dives into homework for at least three hours. He allows for five-minute phone breaks between assignments and winds down before bed with video games or TV until about 1 a.m.
“I definitely need to get more sleep at night,” says Cole, 17. “But it’s hard with all my honors classes and college stuff going on. It’s exhausting.”There aren’t enough hours in the day to sleep, says sophomore Amelia Raphael, 15. A self-described overachiever, Raphael is taking physics, honors chemistry, algebra and trigonometry and is enrolled in online college classes. Her goal is to finish her associate degree by the time she graduates high school.
“I don’t want to have to pay for college. It’s a lot of money,” says Raphael, who plays three sports and is in student council and other clubs.
She knows she’s overscheduled. “But if you don’t do that, you’re kind of setting yourself up for failure. There is a lot of pressure on doing everything,” said Raphael, who gets to bed between midnight and 2 a.m. “I am giving up sleep for that.”“There are houses where the heat is intense, which affects people, especially those with high blood pressure. They feel tired, flushed, and even unwell,” she said. “The heat is so strong that it even affects the animals. Neighbors who have chickens have lost some of them due to the extreme heat, as the animals are suffocating.”
A significant portion of the Wayuu population maintains traditional, semi-nomadic lifestyles, residing in rancherias — thatched-roof huts made from dried cacti and mud — and herding cattle and goats.In many informal settlements, residents lack access to running water or sanitation services. Water sellers transport untreated water in barrels, using mules to distribute it between homes for a fee. While many people rely on collecting rainwater, the increasing unpredictability of rainfall has made this source of water less dependable.
“They have been forced to buy water from sources that aren’t clean, transported by mules or carts that make long journeys to bring it to families,” said Martinez. “This water isn’t drinkable—it can only be used for washing or cooking. But people are left with no choice but to drink it. This is one of the biggest consequences of the droughts and the lack of rainfall during these seasons.”Many non-governmental organizations say they step in to support these areas in La Guajira where state assistance is minimal or entirely absent. Colombia’s environment ministry did not respond to AP’s requests for comment.