Annotated Bibliography: Sleep And The Teenage Brain

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

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.

First there are many serious risks of being sleep deprived. Since so many teenagers are dealing with stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep, if they do this for too long it can have a major affect on their health. The third leading cause of death between the ages of fifteen to twenty-four is suicide. Dealing with sleep deprivation is a major risk factor for having suicidal thoughts, whether or not the teen is depressed. Sleep is food for the brain, without it, it can take a major toll on people. Studies have shown that those who go to bed late do worse in school, and experience a harder time controlling their emotions. Lack of sleep can also affect teens in the long run; causing them to have a higher risk of obesity and diabetes. Sleep deprivation is very harmful to teens, their body needs sleep to function properly, without it, it can damage certain things. Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist, said “[Sleep deprivation] is extremely detrimental at all stages of life, In the teen years, when development continues the sleep deprivation effects of brain and body development are significant,” (Breus). This shows just how important sleep is for someone. Having a goods night rest helps their minds, making everything easier, and helps them develop properly.

“Today’s Exhausted Superkids”, an article by Frank Bruni, shows us how the new norm for teens is to be overloaded with an extreme drive for success. These striving teens are being referred to as “Superkids” in Bruni’s article because the hype for a competitive edge among teens today is causing a lack of sleep. Bruni’s opening to his article expresses his distress towards high school students who are always in search of that competitive edge. While Bruni was reading an article about sleep deprived teens, he had an awakening when he realized teens are so stressed and hyped up that they are only getting a fraction of needed sleep. Sleep is an essential part of healthy growth, especially in the age range of a teen because they are still developing. Furthermore, Bruni makes the point that when he was a teen students were getting too much sleep, but now students welcome those hours of sleep lost in order to get ahead. Throughout the essay, Bruni makes the important point and uses astonishing facts that high school students need to begin putting sleep first because of how detrimental it is to their emotional and physical health.

Imagine: a world where a biological necessity is not seen as a priority, and adolescent’s educations are suffering. This is how schools’ think about sleep.What all human beings need to survive is being put on the back burner by most schools in America- sleep(11a). It has been proven through the process of scientific research that sleep is necessary on the same level as food or activity. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation is a chronic health problem that many youths suffer from today. Teens are naturally predisposed to go to sleep around 11 pm, but are forced to wake up around 6:15, not allowing any time for adequate sleep (“Backgrounder: Later school start Times” 1). Irregular sleep patterns during teenage years can cause long-term

Students are suffering from sleep deprivation, leaving their minds and bodies incapable of functioning properly. Sleep deprivation, or suffering from a lack of sleep, is worthy of research because it has profound effects on the physical, mental, and behavioral health of adolescents. Just imagine : it’s 1:00 a.m. by the time you glance up from your kitchen table. You are exhausted from a long school day and just managed to finish your homework. However, by the time you lay down, you cannot manage to fall asleep.

Russell Foster has an open discussion of reasons why sleep is important to humans. He mentions that “huge sectors of society are sleep-deprived.” On average, teens need nine hours of sleep for a healthy brain performance. But, nowadays teens are only getting about

Im sure you’ve heard a teenager say “I only get _hours of sleep and i'm fine” However, in the book The Teenage Brain, Frances Jensen shares her research about how many hours of sleep a teenager should get at night and the main causes of sleep deprivation. Teenagers need to be informed that Sleep deprivation among all ages can have a major impact on the actions and lives of people especially teenagers because their brains are developing at such a fast pace. This finding challenges the belief that it’s only a short term effect, like you’ll only be affected the morning ahead. As a result that's why most teenagers grow up to have long term problems or are always stressed.

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

Teenagers are notorious for staying up late. And late nights coupled with early-morning high school start times means kids are losing a great deal of valuable sleep. Sleep experts now know that teenagers need, in fact, more sleep than adults and children. Sleep studies have found, and Dr. Maas concludes that “adolescents need a minimum of 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep each night to be fully alert during the day” (Crombie 2). Statistics show, however, that few young people even come close to getting their required amount of sleep, with only 15 percent sleeping 8 ½ hours or more during the week (Finger 2). The majority of America’s teenagers, according to a study released by Stanford University, get a scant 6 ½ hours of sleep on school nights (“Adolescent Sleep” 2). With such inadequate sleep, it is no wonder that teenagers slump through the school day; they are legitimately and desperately sleep deprived. The blame for teens’ sleep deprivation, however, often falls on their own weary

Teens are happier and healthier when we sleep. You have to show your dad your grade report and see you are struggling in all your classes. You get screamed at and grounded until you can improve your grades. “There are serious safety risks for teens who don’t get enough sleep. Insufficient sleep in teenagers raises their risks for sports injuries and other accidental injuries.

Bryant, N. B., & Gómez, R. L. (2015). The teen sleep loss epidemic: What can be done? Transla-tional Issues in Psychological Science, 1(1), 116-125. doi:10.1037/tps0000020

Adolescents today face a widespread chronic health problem: sleep deprivation. Research shows that getting enough sleep is a biological necessity. Sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Teens are among those least likely to get enough sleep; while they need on average 9 1/4 hours of sleep per night for optimal performance and health and brain development, teens average fewer than 7 hours per school night, and most report feeling tired during the day (Nationwide Childrens, 2003). The root of the problem is early school start times.

In addition, one article states that “Regular and restful sleep is essential for good health, sleep helps you feel less stressed and helps you maintain a healthy diet. Students often have very stressful lives with activities such as going to class, working out, etc (“Despite”). Finally, the consequences of sleep deprivation in a student's teen years can be very serious. Teenagers spend most of the day in school, when they have to wake up for school so early, then be there all day, it can lead to them not getting enough healthy sleep. With this lack of sleep they are unable to get the most they can out of school. With little sleep students can not learn as much and could therefore not know important things necessary for life. Teenagers don’t get tired until about 11:00, so they don’t get enough sleep because school starts so early in the morning (“Effects”). Overall, many students do not get as much healthy sleep that they need. Without sleep, they can not learn as much as they could be with a good amount of

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the factors contributing to sleep deprivation and the effects of insufficient sleep.