The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On College Students

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 can seriously affect students mental and physical health and can change it permanently. “Effects on one crummy night’s sleep: You feel groggy, forgetful, clumsy,” according to Scholastic Choices, When Sleep Becomes a Nightmare. Lack of sleep makes adolescents become more vulnerable to depression and obesity (npr.org). For example, when people are tired they want foods or drinks with lots of sugar or caffeine to give them a temporary boost, but it can later on affect their body negatively (sleepingresorces.com). When students don’t get the right amount of sleep they can become

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

Sleep affects grades in more ways than one or two or even three. It affect how people feel, think, and act (Gruber,2013). This states that people that have less sleep behave differently than people that get the recommended amount of sleep for their age.They may be more likely to have mistakes in a class or job. They might even act different than they usually do. Sleep also has an affect of no motivation or effort in the work they do (Gruber,2013). This is important because this tells that the person that does not get enough sleep does not have much motivation or effort they put in to the work they perform.People with motivation tend to do things better than people that have none.

Studies have shown that an hour more of sleep gave the students a 2.32 percent difference in test scores. That may not sound like much but in though that can bring a B+ to an A. “A recent poll conducted by the National sleep foundation found that 60% of children under the age of 18 complained of being tired during the day, according to their parents, and 15% said they can’t focus as well with less sleep,” said sleepfoundation.org. Students can’t focus with less sleep because their brain isn’t fully awake to let them pay attention in class. If students are not getting the sleep they need then they can ruin their chance at a high paying college or career.

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’s impacts include: weight gain and eating disorders and increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes; reduced immunity; depression; anxiety; substance abuse; mood swings; behavior problems; suicidal ideation; and potential impacts on brain development” (pp. 5). Any of these things could happen to students because they get less sleep to be on time to school. “Studies have shown that delaying early school start times is one key factor that can help adolescents get the sleep they need to grow and learn” (Strauss, pp. 6). This is saying that getting more sleep will help students to actually learn and focus on school. Therefore, without a sufficient amount of sleep, students’ health will decrease, which will increase

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

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

According to clinical psychologist Reut Gruber, Short or poor sleep is a significant risk factor for poor academic performance that is frequently ignored.” In other words if students came to school with enough sleep, then they are able to concentrate more. They listen to teachers lecture carefully rather than taking nap during class. They will have more tendency to participate in class discussions and activities. This led to better grades and decreases the failure

Sleep deprivation affects a student's physical health. When we are sleeping, our bodies take a break from reality, and we wake up refreshed and calm. Then again, if students don't get enough sleep they can't function properly, the students are exhausted and stressed out. Sleep deprivation affects the way our body functions; the students’ height, strength and immune system weaken. Students who drive could get into car accidents by falling asleep at the wheel. Students who don't get enough sleep could rely on caffeine and drugs to wake them up which could lead to further health

“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

All the sources cited here, including, authors and experts believe that chronic sleep loss put students to risk of depression, obesity, vehicle accidents, obesity, and even suicidal thoughts. Loss of sleep also put students in the academic risk, as the students cannot perform to their ability when they are sleepy. All these sources also suggest the same solution to this problem; start the school time later in the

When teenagers are not fully in control of their brains, they may not be as responsible. In the mornings, especially while driving to school, drowsiness can be fatal for teens and surrounding people. Car crashes are the number one cause of death of teenagers and over half of car crashes by people younger than twenty-five are caused by falling asleep while driving. In 2006, more than half of teen drivers said they did drive while still being tired. Also, fifteen percent of juniors and seniors say they drive sleepily at least once a week. Not getting enough sleep actually has the effects that alcohol can do to the body. Being awake for twenty or more hours and driving is the same as having a blood alcohol level of 0.08, which is the legal limit for the United States (Drowsy Driving). Because of this, Goessel High School should start later in the morning to give students an opportunity to sleep longer to possibly prevent drowsy car

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.