How Sleep Affects The Brain

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

Sleep is essential for cognitive, emotional, and physical wellbeing, especially those who are developing into young adults. Proper sleep hygiene, defined as “those practices of daily living that promote good sleep and daytime function” is considered to be a rising issue among adolescent high school students.9 An average adolescent would require between 8 and 9 hours of sleep per night to be considered well rested.5 One survey of American adolescents in high school reported that only approximately 14% of those students actually received an adequate amount of sleep.10 Another study estimates that approximately one-third to one-fourth of adolescent population does not obtain adequate sleep.3 Poor sleep hygiene can lead to many factors that will negatively influence high school student’s wellbeing. Lack of sleep has been proven to be a root cause for multiple negative health outcomes, such as: an increase in depressive symptoms, sedentary behavior, decrease in emotional stability, and reduced physical development.1,5 As depressive behavior increases and motivation decreases, it leads to a significant decline in academic performance and consequently affecting daytime function.4 Practicing proper sleep hygiene and building a foundation of good habits begins with the early stage of adolescents in high school.

Lack of sleep can lead teenagers to gain weight, become depressed or engage in risky activities (i.e. drugs, alcohol) and can lead to poor school performance overall (CDC). These consequences are not the only problem with teenagers losing sleep because of school work. During teenage years, an individual’s biological clock causes them to want to go to sleep later in the morning due to various hormones in their bodies. Students aren’t naturally supposed to wake up early, yet in 42 states the majority of school’s start before 8:30 A.M (CDC), but

As a busy teen in high school, involved in many activities, I do not have much time for myself to relax and let my mind rest. When I come home from a long day of school, I still have homework that needs to get done. I go to sleep late and have to wake up early the next morning to get ready for school. Evidence from this article by Maria Konnikova proves that the stress I experience from my lack of sleep is not an exaggeration. Because I do not get quality sleep and I do not sleep long enough, my mind fogs throughout the day and my mood worsens because of my drowsiness. As I get more tired throughout the day, I become more hyper, having little control over my actions and responses. This coincides with the theory that inadequate sleep results

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

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

The U.S has more than 18,000 public high schools with an average start time of 8 a.m. School bus schedules are built around these times. Teenagers’ circadian rhythms are not. For this reason, sleep deprivation is becoming a teenage epidemic with significant negative effects on both their physical and emotional well-being as well as their academic success. School districts, health professionals, and parents have differing views on this subject.

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

Many adults say that sleep is crucial to a human during its adolescent years. It is a proven fact that teens need an average of 8.5 to 9.5 hours a sleep each night, yet two-thirds of high school students are receiving fewer than seven hours of sleep (Howard, “Wake up Calls”). Some might ask, “Why aren’t teens getting the required amount of sleep they need?” This is because adults frequently advise teens to be involved in school activities, receive good grades, turn homework in on time, and maintain a healthy social life. Now, teens do what is advised by adults by taking Advanced Placement classes, playing sports, participating in extracurricular activities, and even getting after school jobs; but they still fall short on getting the required amount of sleep at night. The daily cycle of a teen involved in many school activities consists of not getting home until 7:00 P.M., eating dinner, doing loads of homework, using social media, going to sleep at 11:00 P.M. or later, then waking up the next morning at 6:00 A.M. to get ready for school. As you can see, an involved teen is only getting seven or fewer hours of sleep at night. Since getting an inadequate amount of sleep each night

Gail Gross, talks about the why teens need their sleep, “[w]hen teens do not get enough sleep, the problems can be very serious and affect almost every aspect of their lives. They lose the ability to focus and stay on task, they experience fatigue, mental lapses, and symptoms of ADHD, including hyperactivity and attention deficit. When your teen is stressed through the loss of sleep, theamygdala enlarges, making him or her more emotional in decision-making, while the hippocampus narrows where learning and memory live. As a result, not sleeping long enough can affect not only decision-making ability, but also creativity.” Teen lose so much focus when they don’t have their sleep. We want to blame it on the teen themself, but it is also the school system’s fault. Teenages have to get up so early just to make it to school on time. During the first couple of period, they are exhausted. Teen can’t concentrate. They don’t remember things. Just starting school later would fix this problem right

According to Wahlstrom Kyla, collaborated with the center of applied research and educational improvement(CAREI) at the university of minnesota in august 1996, “ teenagers need about 9.25 hours of sleep each night, a difficult amount to obtain when the brain does not enter sleep mode until about 10:45 p.m and when students must awaken early for a school day that begins before 8:30 a.m. medical research.”. Teenagers cannot control their sleep hours since it is a physical condition caused by puberty. Therefore they receive less hours of sleep than needed. Schools should start later to avoid causing their students health issues. Their bodies are still growing, teens whose bodies are still growing need between 8.5 to 9.5 hours each night, and sleep deprivation may lead to depression, obesity, substance abuse, and an increase in car crashes.

Lack of sleep contributes to many problems for teenage students. Students who start their school day at 7:30 or 8:00 am are not as well rested as those who start their school day at 9 am. Students suffering from sleep deprivation have higher absences from school, more tardiness, lower grades, and they are less happy. They are also at risk for a lot of other problems. Lack of sleep can affect learning ability and it can even affect graduation rates. Sleep deprived students risk their safety and the safety of others when they get into a car to drive because sleep deprived students are also more likely to be involved in early morning car accidents. Schools might say students need to go to bed earlier, but the studies show that doesn’t help as much as one would think. The reason? Earlier bedtime doesn’t help because a teens’ natural sleep cycle starts later in the evening and their natural time to wake up is later in the morning than when 80% of the schools in the United States start their school day. An

To gain the right amount of sleep would mean that a teenager would have to go to bed at 9:30 pm. In the words of the American sleep researcher, Mary Carskadon, “we are asking 16-year olds to go to bed before 10pm. Rare is a teenager that will keep such a schedule.” She also goes to mention that with all the after school activities, such as athletics, clubs, employment, that “the ability even to have merely ‘adequate’ rest is lost.” After a student goes many consecutive days without the right amount of sleep, it can easily trigger sleep deprivation. In effect, the student’s ability to be “alert, pay attention, solve problems, cope with stress and retain information.” Losing these attributes in school can lower their decision making which can greatly affect their performance in “everything from academics to athletics.”

We know that brain is the part of our body that never sleeps. We know that when we sleep our brain is very active. Sleep affects our daily activities. Our functional abilities, physical and our mental state affected in many ways from our sleep. There are still many unexplored areas now science is beginning to understand and relevant to the effects of sleep in our lives. Sleep is controlled by groups of neurons found in the brain stem. These neurons produce chemicals, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, which belong to the class of neurotransmitters. Whether you sleep or awake, controlled by neurotransmitters. The same substances regulate and which parts of the brain will operate continuously while you sleep. Another substance called adenosine

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?