Candice Alfano: National Institute Of Mental Health

The consequences of sleep deprivation during the teenage years are particularly serious. Teens spend a great portion of each day in school when it starts early; resulting in a lack of sleep. Ultimately, sleep deprivation affects a student’s academic performance. When students lose sleep, they disrupt their sleep cycles and their bodies respond by decreasing their ability to concentrate and complete complex tasks. A prolonged period of cumulative sleep deprivation will affect their physical and mental well-being and consequently their capacity to learn.

Lack of sleep will affect a child’s development. A child needs sufficient sleep to be able to concentrate and be able to learn. Lack of sleep can also cause emotional, social and behavioural problems, this is because if a child is

Because of kids not getting enough sleep it increases obesity rates, depression, motor vehicle accidents (M.V.A.), and a lower quality of life. “Getting enough sleep is important and early start times are preventing many adolescences from

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

Second, sleep deprivation will negatively impact students ' lives out of school. In the “Why We Must - and Can - Restore Safe & Healthy School Hours” article it states, "The effects of sleep deprivation are: weight gain and eating disorders and increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes; reduced immunity; depression; anxiety; substance abuse; mood swings." These

Lack of sleep affects children's relationships with others as sleep makes a difference to behaviours and control of emotions.

However, if children do not get enough sleep at night their mind will tend to zone out. For example, high school students with cars might have a very likely chance of getting into an accident, due to the lack of sleep. Children all over the world are stressed and depressed. “Studies show that tired teens have an increased risk of depression, anxiety, obesity, and illness” (O’neill 20). “One 2012 study found that middle schoolers’ test scores rose in reading and math” ( O’neill 20). Although some people think that later school days will not help to improve anything. Others understand how serious the risk of danger can get with sleepy children everywhere.

According to the “National Sleep Foundation”, it is said,”The relationship between sleep and depressive illness is complex – depression may cause sleep problems and sleep problems may cause or contribute to depressive disorders. For some people, symptoms of depression occur before the onset of sleep problems. For others, sleep problems appear first. Sleep problems and depression may also share risk factors and biological features and the two conditions may respond to some of the same treatment strategies. Sleep problems are also associated with more severe depressive illness,”. This means that while we might not make this mental connection, not getting a propers night of sleep could have a grave effect on your mental health. But, lets say we pushed school back an hour or so, that means an additional hour of sleep and a chance for teenager’s temperaments to increase and level

In Bronson and Merrryman’s novel Nurture Shock, the authors revealed that there are more children today getting less hours of sleep comparing to children thirty years ago. For instance, the authors reported that, 90% of American parents believe that their children are getting enough daily sleep, but 60% of high schoolers claim they are not getting enough sleep. Although the claims may be true, children are getting less sleep due to over scheduling of after school activities and by technology distractions during bedtime hours.

In the article “The Teenage Brain: Still Under Construction” it states,”Along with the obvious effects of sleep deprivation, such as fatigue and difficulty maintaining attention, inadequate sleep is a powerful contributor to irritability and depression. Studies have children and adolescents have found that sleep deprivation can increase impulsive behavior; some researchers report finding that it is a factor in delinquency”. Teens are stressed which is causing them to lose sleep. In fact, teens losing sleep is causing them to have physical and emotional problems leading to suicidal thoughts because they can’t handle the pressure.

“Students who described themselves as struggling or failing school (C's, D's/F's) reported that on school nights they obtain about 25 min less sleep and go to bed an average of 40 min later than A and B students, ps < .001. In addition, students with worse grades reported greater weekend delays of sleep schedule than did those with better grades.” (Wolfson, Carskadon, pg.1). Because some students go to bed later, it results in them having worse grades. Whereas students who go to bed earlier tend to have A’s or

Dr. Arsiwalla is studying the affects of sleep deprivation on the emotional development of young children.

The journal article, “Sleep Disturbance and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: The Role of Catastrophic Worry,” discussed a potential cognitive vulnerability in adolescent development (Hankin, Abramson, Miller, & Haeffel, 2004). The researchers investigated the stress factor of sleep disturbance during adolescence and its impact on emotional and cognitive health (Danielsson, Harvey, MacDonald, Jansson-Frojmark, & Linton, 2012). The article was focused on research concerning the likelihood of correlation and causality between sleep disturbance and the onset of depression, and between catastrophic worry and the onset of depression. These researchers hoped that their findings would assist in identifying risk factors

In NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman explain the real-life situation of Morgan Fichter and how she lost hours of sleep because of a hypercritical teacher. Her teacher, because she was so critical, caused Morgan to be, "[unable to] unwind at night" (Bronson 29). This began to take a toll on Morgan and her studies. According to the studies at the University of Kentucky, Morgan is not the only one. On average, teenagers "get an hour less sleep each night than they did thirty years ago" (Bronson 30). "Moodiness, depression, and even binge eating [in teens] are actually just symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation" (Bronson 31). The loss of sleep in any child should not occur. It is a very unhealthy habit that a child should not begin at any age throughout their

There have been reports which have said sleep deprivation not only increases sleepiness but it also accelerates deterioration of mood (Kaida and Niki). Sleep and mood are closely connected; poor or inadequate sleep can be the source of irritability and anxiety, while healthy sleep can enhance well-being (Sleep and Mood). Therefore, sleep is crucial to have a pleasant mood and outlook on life on a daily basis. The typical adult requires about seven to eight hours of sleep for each night to have good well-being. University of Pennsylvania researchers found that subjects who were restricted to only four and a half hours of sleep a night for one week reported feeling more stressed, angry, sad, and mentally exhausted (Sleep and Mood). Furthermore, college students who