The Importance of Sleep for 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

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)?

Sleep is a beautiful thing, but people do not get enough of it. It is a time for the body to rejuvenate and process the events of the day. Sleeping is something that we seek out. Getting the recommended amount of sleep allows our body to function properly the next day. Without it, there could be detrimental consequences. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that without sleep, neurons could be “polluted with byproducts”. In severe cases, people who get very little sleep often experience mood swings, hallucinations and cells do not continue to reproduce.

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

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

Students are in search of an advantage over the crowd and go to vast lengths to achieve it. Sleep deprived students are the effect of high expectations. Schools such as Silicon Valley brought sleep experts to promote shut-eye. Frank Bruni states that back when he was in the 1980s, there was too much sleep, although today’s students are taking more AP classes, multiple extracurricular, and apply to every Ivies. The author lists numerous books written on the topic of student learning. In college, campus students face anxiety along with depression, they cope with minor setbacks that seem big. They also deal with panic a major factor in “acing the exam, burnishing the transcript, and keeping up with high achieving peers.” Wanting to pull their children off the fast track parents worry about getting them stuck behind. The author believes students should be given wiggle room to find passions, develop interests, and bounce back from failure. Bruni states kids should “tumble gently into sleep, which is a gateway, not an impediment, to dreams.” Students are exhausted from their daily schedules and lose sleep due to it, Bruni proves his point by discussing personal experiences, statistics from other schools, and works he’s read.

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

Sleep is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the

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.

Sleep deprivation is a frequent obstacle that many college students in America face. Insomnia in college students can have an immense impact on psychological and physical health, which greatly influence academic success. Research shows that 70% of college students qualify as sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation has also been linked with several diseases/disorders, including: depression, anxiety, and obesity. Our research question investigated how sleep deprivation in college students affects them physiologically and psychologically. The participants included college students that are at least 18 years of age. Researchers distributed 200 surveys to college students in a rural community. The survey determined the student’s sleep habits and how their sleep affects their physiological and psychological health. Our research hypothesis was that out of all the 200 students surveyed, the majority or at least 45% of the students said they suffer from sleep disturbances that affect their school and personal lives. Our results concluded that 125 students (62.5%) feel like the hours of sleep they receive affects their psychological health more than their physiological health. However, 50 students felt that the hours of sleep they receive affects their physiological health more than their psychological health. Around 72% of the students surveyed felt that their psychological health was more affected by the hours of sleep they receive a night per week than their physiological

Sleep is essential on a daily basis. It allows the body to rest and replenish itself for the next day. These days, lack of sleep is a result of people not taking sleep seriously or having a lightly thought about sleep. Our sleep habits directly affect our life on a daily basis and it has an important role throughout our whole life. Not having the right amount of sleep every night can affect our mental and physical health. Having a better knowledge about what causes sleep problems can help us understand this issue more to depth. Lack of sleep can affect all kinds of audiences and bring health consequences to someone’s life, yet having the right amount of sleep can be very beneficial for someone’s health by improving lifestyle.