Sleep Deprivation In College Students

Are you tired and having trouble paying attention in class? Focusing on tasks at hand? Or just completely being overall unproductive? The average college student is deprived at least two full hours asleep each night according to “College Tidbits” a website designed to promote healthy lifestyles and productivity in daily college life. These results were pooled from multiple surveys done over hundreds of campuses throughout the United States. Today, I hope to persuade you to fight the statistics and get those extra two hours of sleep. Do what it takes to get the full seven to nine hours that is suggested by the Mayo Clinic. I will discuss two problems. Why college students are not

A common problem in many young adults in college is sleep deprivation. College students are some of the most sleep deprived people. Their sleep hygiene behavior is worse than adults. An adequate amount of sleep time is 7 to 8 hours each night to complete a regular sleep cycle. When college students have less sleep time, they are disturbing their sleeping cycle and their bodies respond by decreasing their ability to concentrate on tasks. Sleep deprivation can affect your everyday life in many different ways. For instances, it can decrease your physical health, mental health, and academic performance. The following articles will be focusing on

Give a one-sentence definition of internal validity. As an example, I’m going to conduct a study that deprives college students of sleep, to prove their grades will go down as a result. If I found a link between reduced sleep and reduced grades, what is an internally valid conclusion about the results of this study (be specific)?

This source was produced by The Media Production Group at Dartmouth and Dr. Carl P. Thum, Director of the Dartmouth Academic Skills Center. Carl Thum himself works with students at Dartmouth University in which he provides coaching for students suffering from ADD and also leads various workshops, mini-courses, and coaching sessions for students as well. In this video, several students and faculty members are interviewed on the relationship between sleep and being a college student. In the various interviews, the students admit to the struggles they have in being able to function when suffering from sleep deprivation and how severely the lives are affected from it. The faculty members themselves admit to the several instances in which they have witnessed students suffer as a result of sleep deprivation in their testimonials. I will be incorporating this video to indicate the varying degrees at which sleep deprivation can affect students and will include quotes from other students in this video in order to create more relatability for the reader when hearing from students besides myself and how they have learned to address sleep.

One of the many arising problems of America’s students is they are becoming sleep deprived. The busy daily schedules of children and teens are not allowing them to get enough sleep. “Less sleep is unhealthy especially with the new research that as teenagers move through teenage years, they need increasing amounts of sleep. Nine hours per night is the necessary amount to avoid behaviors associated with sleep deprivation” (Final Report Summary, 2001). Among other things, sleep deprivation is causing students to sleep during class instead of being awake and aware. When the students are sleeping in class, they are not retaining information being taught to them. Researchers have now proven that

Sleep deprivation is a serious concern among college students, who are "among the most sleep-deprived age group in the United States," (Central Michigan University, 2008). It is important to study the causes of sleep deprivation, or sleep disorders, among college students. According to Park (2009), "dozens of studies have linked an increase in nightly sleep to better cognition and alertness." A study by Central Michigan University (2008) found that sleep deprivation can lead to poor academic performance, impaired driving, depression, and behavioral problems. There are several variables that may affect sleeping patterns among college students. One is genetics or biological issues. It is highly

The students could rate their current mood on a scale from zero to seven. The higher the

Sleep is an essential fuel in balancing a college student’s performance; being crucial for learning, and physical and mental health. The consistency of a good quantity of sleep (8 to 9 hours) lays great importance beyond many of a college student; yet progressively, sleep deprivation among college students is still at its worse and has not changed in college students since the olden days, when today it is still not healthy. This ultimately factors into a college student’s grade point average ( consequently lowering it), “increased risk of academic failure, compromised learning, impaired mood, and increased risk of motor vehicle accidents”[1] Though, students tend to prioritize their matters in work, homework,

Students who usually stay up late and get little sleep do not think of the consequences for the next day. Frequently, a majority of these students arrive at class only to fall the next day only to fall asleep after the professor starts the lecture. The poor behavior problem usually leads to low attendance rates and poor grades among sleep deprived students (Johnson). For first time freshmen, sleep deprivation has been known to cause a variety of issues that can lead to grave harm. Sleep deprivation can cause slow reaction time as well as headaches and nightmares more frequently. The mind will fall asleep if it cannot get enough sleep causing it to not function properly. Some side effects insomnia are feeling fatigue, depressed or a feeling of the body being completely drained (Haynes). One of these issues

Specific Purpose: Sleep and college students usually don’t tend to get along very well. Sleep and college life often bump heads due to stress, coursework and social activities. This speech will give the students useful information about dangers of not getting enough sleep and also hints on how to get a better nights sleep.

Many college students seem to suffer from sleep debt due to the fact they have a busy schedule, have to manage stress, and also try to live a healthy lifestyle. I think it is so common amongst college students since many students, including myself, struggle with time management. Struggling with time management usually results in students procrastinating and leaving school work to do very late, which results in students not getting a good night’s rest. Another reason as to why students have sleep debt is due to the fact that our generation loves to stimulate the brain with multiple and constant sensory inputs, such as listening to music, texting, watching TV, or playing video games. These engaging activities can exhaust your brain and impede

College is exciting transition for freshman as they can meet new people and be open to opportunities in their life; however, college is very demanding when it comes to school work. Freshmen tend to underestimate their school work and end up stacking their homework, leading them to become stressed and develop unhealthy habits. Sleep deprivation is a common habit among freshmen as they stay up all night to study for an exam or write a paper. If students feel like they have too much work, they burn themselves out and end up losing the motivation to finish their homework, making their grade fall. With all this work, freshmen spend most of their time at home or in the library doing their homework and feel too exhausted to socialize. College is supposed to be a thrilling experience for freshmen, but they tend to form bad habits that makes college more difficult and do not know how to get rid of them. Freshmen need to know developing good sleeping habits, motivating themselves, and finding the time to socialize is important in maintaining their health and social life throughout college. Freshman should set a sleep schedule for themselves, create a reward system for themselves when completing their work, and join a club or organization in order to manage their school life and enjoy the exciting experience of college. (225)

Lastly, the long-term effect and the most common consequences are mood and behavior. Usually, changes in mood and behavior are the first signals and symptoms that show individuals are suffering from sleep deprivation. Before experiencing hallucinations and motor and cognitive impairment, the first symptom that was shown in Gardner’s behavior was mood and behavior change. “Sleep and emotion are closely linked, however, the effects of sleep on socio-emotion task performance have only recently been investigated” (Beattie et al., 2014). People who are usually gentle and soft will become aggressive and depressive, people become sensitive to their surroundings, or individuals feel more irritable, hostile, and angry when they experience sleep loss. According to Kushida (2005), “mood changes commonly include

Research indicates that America’s sleep problems have increased and might be the number one health problem. The average amount of sleep that people get per night can range anywhere from three to twelve hours. According to Dr. David Dinges at the University of Pennsylvania, it is a fact that people who get fewer than six hours of sleep a night do not live as long as people who get seven hours or more. Most people do not realize the importance of sleep or even realize that it is needed to survive. Many people experience sleep deprivation; however it is commonly seen in college students. Irregular sleeping patterns tend to occur in students, which can later lead to long-term effects.

Thesis Statement: When the projects, exams, and extra-curricular activities start to pile up on one another it seems as though there is not enough time in the day.  This is when college students tend to lose precious hours of sleep and the consequences can be costly.