Teen’s everywhere love staying up late and sleeping in later, but this could have drastic, negative effects on their life. A recent TIME article was published on teens late night sleep habits could affect them from 5-8 years into the future. Getting to bed early, and balancing homework, can be extremely difficult, but getting to sleep before eleven thirty is vital for a teenager’s life. Teenagers are affected both academically and emotionally when they stay up late, but there are a couple solutions to change this.
Teens who stay up past eleven thirty on a regular basis suffered both academically and emotionally. 2,700 teenagers were studied, and 30% of those subjects stayed up past 11:30. Students, ages 14-16, had a dramatic, negative difference in their GPA’s than students who were getting more sleep. Lack of sleep and going to school tired seriously affected the academics of kids, and if their GPA’s are so much lower than their other classmates, it could seriously affect these “night owls” from getting to a good college. Night owls, ages 16-18, suffered emotionally for years and sh...
According to the National Sleep Foundation, biological sleep patterns change throughout the stages of adolescence. ¨Biological 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 11:00pm.¨ (¨Teens and Sleep¨). Messing with these sleep cycles in the long run and lead to sleep disorders. Research done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests teenagers 13-18 years old should regularly sleep 8-10 hours each night for a healthy sleep. The teens who do not get a good amount of sleep are more likely to suffer from mental conditions, smoking, illicit drugs, and alcohol use. ¨Not getting enough sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks including being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.¨ (¨Schools Start Too Early¨). On an NBC news story, Hilton Head Island High School moved its start time and benefits were noticeable. Students had higher test score averages and grades improved throughout the school.A study done in 2008 published in the journal of clinical sleep, found car accident rates fell by 16.5% when students were more aware on the road, not having to wake up before 7 am.
Lack of sleep of teens is not caused by choice. Many teens do not choose to stay up late at night because they are out or having fun. The body has circadian rhythms. “These rhythms are generated internally and develop without any social or environmental cues. Adolescents experience a natural circadian phase delay and, therefore, tend to stay up later and sleep in later than in preadolescents” (Final Report Summary, 2001). The opening and closing schedules of schools are not based on these rhythms but are based on the business world and what is best for it. “School schedules should be adapted to the unique needs of different sub-populations of pupils. The administrator must not bear the sole responsibility for planning class schedules” (...
As a teenager goes throughout their high school career, the work becomes more demanding, and requires them to spend more time studying. While the student is trying to balance studying, work, and social activities, the amount of hours they spend sleeping becomes limited. Cari Gillen-O’Neel (et al.) reveals in “To Study or to Sleep? The Academic Costs of Extra Studying at the Expense of Sleep,” that sleep is commonly lost among teenagers so that they have additional study time. Only about nine percent of high school students
Sleep deprivation is a major problem among today’s youth. Only 15% of youth reported getting more than 8.5 hours of sleep on a school night. Teens tend to stay up and sleep in late on weekends, disrupting the natural sleep cycle. This makes it harder to sleep during the week. This can cause a variety of sleep disorders, including narcolepsy, insomnia, sleep apnea, among other things.
Studies conducted over a nearly 30 year span have consistently shown only a small fraction of adolescents get the 9 or more hours of sleep they require to function at their best. While teenagers are notorious for causing their own sleep difficulties, sleep loss among adolescents is confined primarily to school nights. “Sleep deprivation is epidemic among adolescents, with potentially serious impacts on mental and physical health, safety, and learning. Most teenagers undergo a biological shift to a later sleep-wake cycle, which can make early school start times particularly challenging.” says
It’s seven thirty in the morning, the time that most American high schools begin class. Instead of being chipper and ready to learn, most teenagers, at this time of the morning, can barely remain awake. These puffy eyed pupils are by no means ready to learn. Sixty percent children under 18 reported being sleepy during the day, with another fifteen percent reporting that they had fallen asleep during the school day within the past year (National Sleep Foundation, Dozing). Though adolescents require a larger amount of sleep than younger children, they usually receive much less (Indiana University Center for Adolescent Studies). The amount of sleep a teenager receives affects him or her both physically and mentally. Sleep deprived teenagers are more likely to be irritable, be depressed, not perform up to their capabilities in school, and have a decreased ability to handle complex tasks (National Parent Information Network). Though teenage sleep deprivation is a big problem, some simple solutions such as rescheduling the school day to fit teenagers’ biological needs, setting consistent sleep schedules, and teaching children the importance of proper sleep habits can easily remedy this problem.
(Teens4) Work schedules for teens are also a contributing factor. Teens who work more than fifteen hours a week after school and on the weekends have less time for sleep. Teens typically stay up late and sleep in late on weekends which can affect the quality of their sleep. “If parents and teens know what good sleep entails and the benefits of making and sticking to a plan that supports good sleep, then they might re-examine what they think ‘essential activities’ truly are” (Teens5). Sleep deprivation can affect the way the brain functions during the day when teenagers are need of it the
From morning until night, teenagers have to work relentlessly. Schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and maintaining a social life are just some of the many stressors in the life of a teenager. From the sound of this, it would seem almost as if teenagers have no time to sleep. In fact, this is partially true. Studies conducted by the Center for Advancing Health have shown that only about eight percent of high schoolers in the United States get the required amount of sleep to be deemed healthy. This is an exceptionally low number for an entire nation. Not getting enough sleep on average can be extremely detrimental to the wellbeing of a student and for a generation as
One reason why high school should start later than elementary schools is that with such early start times, the average high school students do not get enough sleep and are considered sleep deprived. According to a survey completed by The National Sleep Foundation, only 20% of high school students sleep the optimal 9 hours on school nights and 60% of children under the age of 18 have complained that they are tired throughout the school day to their parents (“School Start”). Sleep depravity is very common among high school students. With disadvantaged sleep patterns, adolescents have decreased mental sharpness and ability to pay attention during school hours. Therefore, grades and test scores are lower than their potential. In fact, “a recent survey by the National Sleep Foundation showed that only 20 percent of teenagers report getting the optimal 9 hours of sleep o...
Students on average who stay up past 1am every night start developing psychological and mental health problems. According to Tori Rodriguez, a psychotherapist, when teens don't get the amount of sleep they need it damages the
Every day in the United States, students find themselves lying in bed struggling to get out of bed and prepare himself for the school day. Teenagers have spent too much time the night before on social media or watching netflix. However, current research from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that biological and physiological factors play a major role in determining how teenagers’ brains simply are not designed to sleep more than a few hours each night, and as a result, teens are sleepy and have trouble focusing on school work in their early morning classes, and they exhibit behavior issues and reckless driving. This issue is not an easy matter to resolve without facing some difficulties, but every problem requires some sacrifices to become feasible. The solution is complicated, but for the sake of safety and success, schools should change start times so that
Many teenagers across the world are forced to wake up early in the morning to go to school. Because of this, teenagers have a larger risk of sleep deprivation, depression, criminal activity, and more. How can reduce these risks? Some schools have rejected the idea of a later start time, but others are looking into the idea in hopes of trying to reduce these risks. Although some people believe that it would not be beneficial, we should push back school start times in order to reduce sleep deprivation and improve academic performance in teenagers.
It is said that on average a college student should get at least 8 hours of sleep. In today’s society an average college student gets only about 6 hours of sleep at night. This is mainly because students are up late studying, there is too much noise in the dorm halls, something is troubling one’s mind, etc. “Stress about school and life keeps 68 percent of college students awake at night- 20 percent of them at least once a week.”(Lund) Majority of college students have an irregular sleep pattern during the week. Because of this many of the students try to make up missed time sleeping longer hours during the weekend. By doing this, the students’ mess up their “internal body clock”. “This erratic pattern can take a toll on students’ well-being, especially when coffee and high caffeine energy drinks are added to the mix.” (Witman, 2012) The fact that their body clocks must get used to a different routine may ...
The teen’s health is a very significant issue. Pushing back times just by thirty minutes can improve their moods, energy levels, and overall health. “When children reach puberty their body clocks change and they need to stay up at night and sleep in later. When they were given the chance to do so for the study, the number of teenagers who said they fel...
When children make the transition from primary school to middle school or high school, it affects them a lot when the changing of their own sleep cycle affects the way they actually learn. Dr. Judith Owens, who is the director of the Sleep Medicine Clinic at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., says "adolescents are programmed to fall asleep later,” (2013). She wants to change school start times to later because "we are asking [teens] to be awake and alert at the time in their 24-hour clock when their alertness level is at its very lowest,” (2013). She also says that most teens can’t usually fall asleep until 11 p.m. Sleep expert Amy Wolfson of College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., says that children should try to get eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep a night. Waking up at six a.m. leads to bad sleep patterns creating sleep deprivation.