Adolescents Today Face A Widespread Chronic Health Problem : Sleep Deprivation

Students,especially students who drive to and from school are also at risk of more car crashes because of sleep deprivation. Additionally getting good sleep is important to maintaining good health,staying awake and alert, and working at peak performance. Although students can simply sleep earlier, many need that time to study and complete homework, with a later start time students can get their homework down and get a sufficient amount of sleep.”According to this research, the ideal amount of sleep for the average teenager falls between 8.5 and 9.5 hours a night, and teenagers who receive adequate sleep benefit from better physical and mental health, safety, and academic performance. It also revealed that puberty causes a “phase delay” in teenagers, which shifts the time that teenagers fall asleep back by two

Some teen parents may think that their child sleeps to much or to late. But, as children turn into teens there is a shift in their circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm regulates the timing of periods of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day. The shift in the circadian rhythm that teens experience causes them to not feel tired until about 10:00 or 11:00 pm. This shows that in order for teens to get the suggested amount of sleep they should not have to wake up until 7:00 or 8:00. Also, due to the biology of the human development, sleep mechanisms don’t allow teens to fully wake before 8:00 am. This is because the secretion of the sleep hormone melatonin begins at about 10:45 p.m. and continues until about 8 am. What this means is that it is difficult for teenagers to fall asleep until melatonin secretion begins and hard to wake up until the melatonin secretion stops. Children however, In 2014, The American Academy of Pediatrics called the problem of tired teens a public health epidemic. This shows that tired teens is not just a problem in a certain state. It affects the majority of America. Mary Carskadon, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, is nationally recognized for her teen sleep expertise. She studied sleep and academic performance. Carskadon and her colleagues surveyed 3,000 high school students and

As a result of a changing body and mind, adolescent sleep cycles have different needs than those of adults or younger children. As a matter of fact, Biologically, sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence -- meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm (“Teens”). In addition to biological change in sleep patterns, teenagers also tend to have eccentric sleep cycles. Obtaining less than healthy hours of sleep during the school week and then catching up on their sleep on the weekends. Most teenagers during the school week, do not get the suggested amount of sleep. In fact, according to a recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, 80% of teenagers do not get the suggested amount of sleep of 9 hours on school nights (“School Start”). With changing bodies and minds, along with an increased amount of schoolwork and extracurricular activities, teenagers need more sleep than children of a younger age. Experts believe that moving back the start time of school for high school students will improve grades, test scores, and the overall health and personality of many students.

Sleep deprivation throughout the teen years is a very serious problem, spending most of the day at school, teens who are sleep deprived have an impaired ability to stay alert, pay attention, solve problems, handle stress and retain information. Young

School start times play a very big role in a student’s overall development, especially when they aren’t getting enough sleep because of it. An important factor to consider for a student’s development is the act of sleeping; that a lack of it can cause serious problems to the students’ growing body. According to research done with Brown University’s Julie Boergers, the author of the letter “Benefits of later school start times”, the amount of sleep that adolescents need ranges from 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. Only 17 percent of these students

This scholarly journal article deliberates the necessity of sleep and the phenomenon that adolescent children are suffering from a lack of sleep. The loss of sleep can negatively af-fect a teenager’s academic performance, driving capabilities, cognitive abilities and more. Bryant and Gomez provide recommendations for combating the sleep deficiency with teens, which includes their caffeine intake, establishing specific bedtimes, and the use of technology. The authors reference several other articles done specifically on the use of electronic devices and their effects on a person’s ability to sleep.

Sleep loss can take a devastating toll on the mind and body at any stage of life from early childhood to older adulthood. But, for teenagers, who are at a critical stage of development, skipping out on sleep can be particularly dangerous. One standout finding is that a lack of sleep affects the body the same way that drinking alcohol does. And like alcohol an insufficient amount of sleep can lead to impairments of mood, affect regulation, attention, memory, behavior control, executive function, and quality of life. In a study of nearly 28,000 suburban high school students, published earlier this year in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, found that each hour of lost sleep is associated with a 38 percent risk of feeling sad or hopeless and a 58 percent increase in suicide attempts. As well teens who sleep an average of six hours per night are also three times more likely to suffer from depression, a 2010 study found. Thus, the correlation between sleep deprivation and depression go hand in hand among teenagers. Also, losing sleep can also have a long-term negative effect on a teens physical health with poor sleep quality being linked to diabetes and obesity risk for teens. Sleep correlates with the well-being of teens, but it also closely relates with academic

School districts expect us to wake up half an hour after the crack of dawn, go to school and while groggy and sleep deprived, and still expect us to surrender our full attention in each and every one of our 6 periods. Sending sleep-deprived teenagers to school as early as 5:30 is dangerously unhealthy, unsafe, and evidently counterproductive. According to the American Academy ofPediatrics, without receiving the appropriate amount of sleep teenagers find it 60% harder to focus in class. Lack of sleep can lead to excessive fatigue, emotional distress, laziness, obesity and a lowered perception of quality of

Many students are not getting enough sleep. In especially middle schools and high school, teenagers are sleep deprived. At the age when they need it the most, teens are not getting enough hours of rest because of how early their school starts. It is very unreasonable that school for teenagers starts early when they need a great amount of sleep. Research shows that “33% of teenagers report falling asleep in school” (Wake up Call, 2014). If students are falling asleep in school, they are not getting the full amount of education and knowledge taught to them. They do not have the energy and positivity to accomplish their best during the school day.

During this week’s article, “Most High School Students Are Sleep Deprived”, by Sylviane Duval, The author claims throughout the article that most high school students are sleep deprived. The author brings up valid points throughout the article and even gives ideas on how to solve this high school sleep deficient epidemic. Throughout this paper I will point out some of the major strengths and weaknesses I found in this article.

Over the span of thirty year research has repeatedly shown that adolescents, between the ages thirteen and eighteen, are sleep deprived. With so much time, money, and research put forth to solve this problem, most would believe that a solution has been discovered and in mid stages of implementation. However, after reviewing statistics one can not help feeling disappointed by the gargantuan number of students who still are not getting enough sleep. Why are adolescents still being sleep deprived? Schools have refused to change their start times even though students have repeatedly stated that waking up at such an early time is physically and mentally strainful. Unreasonably early school start times cause various difficulties for students such

Teenagers are often viewed as unmotivated and lazy, but little thought goes into the contributing factors of this mindset. The article “The Science of Sleepy Teenagers” by Russell Foster proves how school early start times are not conducive to learning, and in fact, prove to be the opposite. Sleep deprivation in teenagers can lead to the neglect of their biological needs, social impairment and an increase in health concerns. As a result of this, teens are suffering.

It is estimated that only 15 percent actually get these amounts (Kids Suffer from Sleep Deprivation). This is particularly important for students who wish to do well in school. Dr. Carl Hunt, the director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, is spearheading a sleep campaign. Her philosophy is, “Sleep well, do well.” This is something that shouldn’t be taken to lightly. Sleep problems effect about 70 million Americans of all ages. Teens often have problems with daytime sleepiness. The old idea of early to bed, early to rise isn’t necessarily the best answer. Society is simply asking to much of teens (Sleep experts to teens). A combination of school, work, study and leisure, leaves very little time left for sleep. Being deprived of sleep definitely has an effect on how well students do in school and may be putting their health at risk. College students who stay up all night to study for a test or write a big paper that’s due often have no choice because of the pressures to do well and succeed, but at what price do they pay?

According to Holohan, “The study, which looked at schools in two cities...with different start times, found an association between earlier classes and more crashes among sleep-deprived students” (Holohan, par. 2). Some parents worry about having to pay for daycare or a babysitter for small children after school, or about how their teenager won’t make it to their job on time if the start time is pushed back; nonetheless, is any amount of money really worth their teenagers’ lives? Furthermore, “Such crashes [related to drowsy driving] have killed more than 1,500 Americans and injured 71,000” (Fox, par. 12). This is too high of a number to ignore. If school start times are pushed back, the number of drowsy drivers will drastically decrease and there will be far less crashes related to sleep deprivation, saving hundreds of lives.

Many researchers over an extended period of time have studied the effects of sleep deprivation on teens. Every morning in schools all across America, many high school teachers battle the same problem; student inattention to instruction, lack of focus on classwork, and general lethargy. One might propose that the obvious reason for student disinterest during the early school hours is that teenagers have spent too much time the night before on social media or have stayed up too late watching Netflix. Others say that teens’ function differently and need a greater amount of sleep. Experts are looking first hand at this matter in order to get the facts separated from opinions.