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Adolescents Today Not Getting Enough Sleep

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Perhaps an underappreciated issue faced by many high school campuses is students sleeping in class, or in more appropriate terms, students not getting enough sleep. “Wake up!” solves the problem for many teachers, but this solution is dated and ineffective. While the students eyes may open, their brains remain functionally inert, and no matter how much a teacher tries to keep their attention, a half-asleep student will never learn as effectively as a fully awake and attentive student. This doesn’t seem like it should even be an issue, after all, the students with this problem just need to manage their sleep more responsibly. Less electronics, earlier bedtimes, and easier course selection all seem to present viable solutions and are often preached as the best ways to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, this is hardly the case. Biologically speaking, the bodies of adolescents aren’t supposed to be up early in the morning. Circadian rhythms controlled by hormones released by the pineal gland in the brain regulate sleep schedules in humans, and teenagers as well as young adults are chemically programmed to go to sleep around eleven or twelve o’clock at night. Factoring in at least the recommended 8 hours of rest to maintain their health and well-being, it’s almost ludicrous to expect them to arrive at school before seven in the morning. One solution would be to keep them at school all the time, give them no time for breakfast or personal grooming, and starting class the

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