The Effects Of Sleep On Teen Health

As a result of a changing body and mind, adolescent sleep cycles have different needs than those of adults or younger children. As a matter of fact, Biologically, sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence -- meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm (“Teens”). In addition to biological change in sleep patterns, teenagers also tend to have eccentric sleep cycles. Obtaining less than healthy hours of sleep during the school week and then catching up on their sleep on the weekends. Most teenagers during the school week, do not get the suggested amount of sleep. In fact, according to a recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, 80% of teenagers do not get the suggested amount of sleep of 9 hours on school nights (“School Start”). With changing bodies and minds, along with an increased amount of schoolwork and extracurricular activities, teenagers need more sleep than children of a younger age. Experts believe that moving back the start time of school for high school students will improve grades, test scores, and the overall health and personality of many students.

Education is essential for the development and growth of the adolescent mind, but teens are going to school and coming back with nothing learned because they were “too tired” and falling asleep during class. The lack of sleep may be caused by the early start-times that schools set for their students. Expecting students to wake-up earlier,

The primary reason for attending school is for adolescents to get an education in hopes of getting a good job.  Attendance, test scores, and GPA’s all play an important role in a student’s success in school, and if they can all be improved by pushing the start time back, then this issue should be pushed further.  The root problem of students not performing to their full potential has to do with the inability to focus from drowsiness in class due to the lack of sleep they are getting.  To support this point, Carskadon, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and his team, “found that students showed up for morning classes seriously sleep-deprived and that the 7:20 a.m. start time required them to be awake during hours that ran contrary to their internal clocks” (Richmond).  In other words, Carskadon believes that current high school start times go against teens’ natural sleep patterns, making them be awake at a time where their bodies aren’t ready to get up yet.  This causes concentration issues making paying attention in class harder, and kids not getting the best grades they can.  Also, sleep won’t get any

Across America school starts on average, at eight o’clock in the morning. When walking through school hallways full of kids on a typical school morning, one may see sleep deprived and tired students not looking forward to their early morning classes, waiting for the bell to ring to signal them to go to class. Students brains are not at their full potential at eight o’clock in the morning because the brain is not yet fully awake. Starting school at eight o’clock is too early for students’ minds. David A. Sousa confirms, “Teenagers are not getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation affects their ability to store information, increases irritability, and leads to fatigue, which can cause accidents” (Sousa 117). Starting school

Many students are not getting enough sleep. In especially middle schools and high school, teenagers are sleep deprived. At the age when they need it the most, teens are not getting enough hours of rest because of how early their school starts. It is very unreasonable that school for teenagers starts early when they need a great amount of sleep. Research shows that “33% of teenagers report falling asleep in school” (Wake up Call, 2014). If students are falling asleep in school, they are not getting the full amount of education and knowledge taught to them. They do not have the energy and positivity to accomplish their best during the school day.

However, if schools started later there could be a chance of reducing sleep deprivation in teens. Teens generally need an average of 9 hours per night, yet they receive less than 7 hours of sleep. Today, the major issue adolescents face is chronic sleep. Mary Carskadon’s team found out that students who showed up for morning classes before 7:30 were seriously sleep-deprived, forced their bodies to be awake and run contrary to their internal clocks. In addition, the lack of sleep can cause a student to fall asleep in class. According to a survey done by the CDC, 20-30% of high school students fall asleep in school each day. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that, “School districts should optimize sleep in students and urge high schools and middle schools to aim for start times that allow students the opportunity to achieve optimal levels of sleep to improve physical and mental health.” Also, a major study at the University of Minnesota have shown that the consequences of insufficient sleep are associated with obesity, immune system disruption, smoking, violence, and depression. Consequently, early school start times can result in fewer hours of sleep as students don’t compensate this with earlier

On average high schoolers get about seven to nine hours of sleep,and then have to be up and get to school by seven. But students are never awake or ready to learn, which is why most students are failing their first period. “ Ideally, teenagers faced with early school start times would just go to bed early. However, a voluminous body of research demonstrates that earlier school start times lead teenagers to sleep less. In a recent study in Minnesota, students in schools where classes started at

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”, (Benjamin Franklin). One is expected to attend school regularly and perform to their best ability. However, to attend and perform at ones best ability, it is expected that they are in their best state, mentally and physically. Thus, I believe that school should, undoubtably, begin at a later time and end at a later time. I believe that, without question, due to the positive aspects that will result in the students academic, mental and physical conditions. A primary factor in ones mental health is dependant on their quality and quantity of sleep, however, it is said that about 85% of teen students do not achieve this amount. Additionally, in a result to lack of sleep, a increase in stress

On average in today’s society most teens don’t like going to school that early in the morning. To have to wake up so early when they only get about seven hours of sleep, to have students be coming into school at 7:30AM or maybe even earlier in some other schools, is not right. Students need to have time at night to get work done, not only schoolwork but also non-schoolwork. Needless to say, the school schedule for high school students needs to be changed and be made where they go in later. That way they get their work done and get enough sleep because without much sleep students will not be getting high grades. A health survey that the University Health Center administered showed them that one in four students say that lack of sleep has

Studies by the National Sleep Foundation have shown that teenagers lose up to two hours of sleep per night during the school year. A big component of sleep loss is a direct result of the early start times for high school. Between after school sports, work, and homework the average teen does not make it to bed before 11p.m. Adolescents then proceed to wake up before 6:30 a.m. to make it to school on time leaving them with an insufficient amount of sleep. Many fatigued teenagers then come to school and easily miss out on learning. School officials have presented a variety of solutions to school boards to increase student alertness during school hours. One reasonable solution that would be an easy fix to the problem is switching high school and elementary schools’ start times to decrease drowsiness of high schoolers in morning classes.

One of the main reasons that teenagers are experiencing sleep deprivation is due to "hectic schedules with after school activities and jobs, homework hours and family obligations ; and a clash between societal demands, such as early school start times, and biological changes that put most teens on a later sleep-wake clock" (National Sleep Foundation, 2015). According to studies done by the National Sleep Foundation (2015) higher test scores are a beneficiary result that comes along with students that get more sleep. The developing brains are rested and as an outcome students were concentrated and achieved higher levels of knowledge. Letting students decide whether they want to attend school at later times will allow them to not only get the required amount of sleep hours, but to be responsible for raising their

Schools are filled with people each day. Many of these people are tired and have trouble focusing on schoolwork. Why are these students like this? Many of us are like this, just waiting for the time you can stop listening to teachers talk about their subjects. However, we can become more focused. The easiest way is to get more sleep. What can we move out of our busy schedules? Nothing really. So, all schools should start later. I will discuss the effects of a lack of sleep, the solution, and the consequences of the action we take. 1.Teen’s biological clocks cause them to fall asleep and wake up at later times. The American Association of Pediatrics said, “research indicates that the average teenager in today’s society has difficulty falling asleep before 11:00 PM and is best suited to wake at 8:00 AM or later.” and that “most adolescents begin to experience a sleep–wake “phase delay”, manifested as a shift of up to 2 hours relative to sleep– wake cycles in middle childhood.” Simply stated, teenagers fall asleep later and wake up later than they did when they were younger. The National Sleep Foundation said that “...they [adolescents] need 8.5-9.25 hours of sleep.” These show a lack of sleep. If a teenager falls asleep at exactly 11PM, and has to wake up at 7 AM to get ready for school, they will only get 8 hours of sleep, a little below the recommended 8.5 hour minimum. Losing that half hour or so of sleep every night is what is causing us as teenagers to be tired and unfocused during the school day. This is not as uncommon as you might think. The CDC said that approximately 31% of high school students get enough sleep each night. That is 69 out of every 100 of us that don’t sleep enough. This is not it. Other reasons for a lack of sleep include: irregular bedtimes, and use of technology in the evening. We have now learned that most of us aren’t getting enough sleep. Getting enough sleep means teenagers will be healthier. In an article written by the CDC, it said, “Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, not engage in daily physical activity, suffer from depressive symptoms, and engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs.”

When my fifteen-year old cousin was in high school, she was required to jump out of bed as early as five-thirty in the morning in order for her to arrive to school on time. As a result, she did not receive an adequate amount of sleep daily, which led to her dozing off her classes; the lack of sleep in her high school years essentially reflected poorly on her school performance. Even though some people may argue that high school classes should not begin later in the day, there are several reasons that prove otherwise. First of all, later school times will allow students to receive a sufficient amount of sleep. Secondly, it will improve school performance for students, and lastly, teenagers will be more engaged in their education. Therefore,

Education is an important aspect of any adolescents’ life. High school prepares adolescents for adulthood and provides them with prime information. The most obvious drawback to the typical high school system is how early in the morning it begins. Adolescents are “programmed” in a sense that their bodies begin to produce the melatonin needed for sleep at a much later time than younger children or adults. Without a sufficient amount of sleep, the human brain suffers cognition and memory issues. This is not an ideal prerequisite for learning. Teenagers have growing responsibilities and insufficient amounts of sleep can greatly hinder performance. High schools should consider

“Forty percent of high schoolers at Ashland High School are unable to stay awake in the first two periods of the day” (Adams 8). This percentage shows that a lot of high school students are not getting enough sleep, or they are sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep. When adolescents are sleep deprived, they tend to not do as well in school as when they receive the full amount of sleep. Likewise, a long-term effect of sleep deprivation at a young age is a serious health issue. Changing the start times of schools can also have a negative effect. This change can be more cost effective and it may cause problems with all schedules. High school students need to get the recommended amount of sleep to be healthy