The Cause Of Sleep Deprivation In College Students

Audience Relevance: Many of us are college students and young adults who are lacking sleep each night. It is not healthy to receive less than the amount we are supposed to each night. Each night, we are supposed to be getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

Teenagers are only getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night, while they need 10. Fifty-nine percent of middle school students and eighty-seven percent of high school students are getting less than the recommended 8 1/2 to 9 ½ hours of sleep a night. Schools that have a start time of 8:30 a.m. or later give students the opportunity to get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights.

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

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

Everyone knows, or has heard, that on average teenagers should obtain at least 8 hours of sleep, and some even say the minimum should be 9 hours. However, “according to the National Sleep Foundation, only 14% achieve this goal, and approximately 70% of adolescents obtain less than 8 hours of sleep on a typical weeknight,” says Ph.D. holder Dr. Julie Boergers. Currently, only about 40% of US high schools start before 8:00 A.M. and many even start at 7:30 A.M. or earlier. To add on, many teens now days work part time jobs starting right after school, and some of them don’t return home until 11:00 or 12:00 p.m. Of course, this doesn’t take into consideration the homework a student has from school, so on average adding two hours, most teen would go to sleep at 1 or 2 at night. This only leaves about 4 to 5 hours of sleep for many teens. With only four to five hours of sleep in a student’s schedule there are many problems that can come. For short-term effects, lack of adequate sleep can affect the ability to learn and retain information, mood, judgment, and may increase the risk of injury, or a serious accident. In the long term, sleep deprivation may

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

While there is some research done on sleep patterns, there is a decline in the research when it comes to college-age students and young adults. In a survey done at a private Midwestern University of approximately 1,125 students, only about 30% of students reported getting eight hours of sleep or more per night, which is considered to be the recommended amount needed during this developmental phase (Lund, Reider, Whiting, & Prichard, 2009). When an individual has multiple nights lacking sleep in a row, they will require more sleep than normal to account for this

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.

Imagine being a student in high school. They get up early every day to go to school for seven hours, then go to work or practice for an extracurricular activity. Once they get home, they still have to do homework for a couple hours. High school students these days are expected to do much more, including having good grades, being involved with their school, community and church and work; spending time with family and friends and still getting over eight hours of sleep a night. From a survey done by the National Sleep Foundation, only 15% of students get the eight and a half or more hours of sleep needed per night. (Esherick 14) Based on research, the findings show that high school students who get more than nine hours of sleep will perform better in their daily lives. Unfortunately, most teens get an average of seven and a half hour of sleep per night (Matricciaani).

Did you know that on average, humans spend about 230,000 of their lifetime sleeping? Many people though don’t get the proper amount of sleep they need every day. Middle school aged teens need about 9-10 hours of sleep but many get almost an hour or so less than the recommended amount of sleep for their age. Sleep is very important for many reasons; a good-night’s sleep helps improve alertness, napping can help give an energy boost to both kids and adults, and your internal clock helps you get the right amount of sleep each night.

College students are becoming overweight, more stressed , and have a lower GPA. These effect are a result from lack of sleep. Many college students attend parties that are provided with alcohol for underage drinkers. “ The alcohol that students are consuming can interfere with their sleeping schedule” (University of Health). Lack of sleep can have many triggers like they food people eat ,the drinks people consume ,and the activities people participate in. People are always in a rush, when on the go most people will reach for a bag of chips or a box of candy when they are hungry. These quick snacks are loaded with sugars and fats that can keep you up at night. Many of the healthy choices people can make will make huge change in their sleep schedules in a positive way.

College students are one of the population who suffer most from sleep deprivation, some of the factors that cause this is, staying up late and having an eight am class the next day, having a lot of distractions around him or her like a social life, family, and personal issues. Another factor can be them not understanding what’s going on in classroom so they gradually stop showing up. There are so many more factors that can cause a student to be sleep deprived, and because of it, it has caused serious negative consequences to their health, grades, attendance, some come to the point of having to drop classes.

“As Gorgie stated According to the National Sleep Foundation, “About 87 percent of American high school students are chronically sleep-deprived, according to a 2006 survey from the National Sleep Foundation. Teens should never get anything less than six hours of sleep. Due to the fact that it is extremely dangerous for teens to get not enough sleep. Teens need nine hours of sleep because anything less can result in car crashes, lower grades, and because they are in their development stages.

Although acquiring the basic amount of sleep seems to be an easy task, college students are struggling to snag even a couple hours of sleep, thus significantly affecting their four domains of development during a crucial developmental period in their lives. College students are going through the development period, Emerging Adulthood, which is from the ages of 18 to 25 years old. During this period of time, adolescents tend to focus on their self-development and discover their identity and the four developmental domains are evolving (Grusec & Hastings, 2008). The four domains are: Cognitive, Social, Emotional, and Physical. These domains are significantly affected by sleep deprivation, which is the condition of not having the right amount of sleep. Students are unable to focus on their academics, are unable to socialize, cannot handle their emotions, and their health begins to deteriorate. Sleep deprivation is becoming a major problem in the country and is affecting college students, who are going through an essential time in their lives for which they need to be in their shape. Throughout the nation, 70 million Americans are noted to have difficulties sleeping because of sleep disorders, which is roughly 23 percent of the national population (Gaultney, 2010). With sleep deprivation on the rise for students in universities, many adolescents’ four developmental domains are not developing properly. This paper will address the ways through which sleep deprivation is