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The link between sleep quality and academic achievement
The link between sleep quality and academic achievement
Effects of sleep deprivation on the academic performance of students
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Nearly every high school or college student knows they have done it before - they ended up pulling an all-nighter studying or doing their homework. In fact, only 7.6% of teens get enough sleep each night. Many teens stay up late, but this ends up harming their performance in school and daily life. But there are three possible solutions: beginning school later, assigning less homework, and controlling teens’ use of caffeine. First off, too many students are lacking the daily recommendation of sleep, which links to lower test scores, lower grades, decreased attention span, decreased concentration, and lower academic achievement. A needless amount of students are staying up so late that sleeping at 11:00 P.M. is now considered “early.” Anyone can be affected by inadequate sleeping, also including adults and younger children. …show more content…
It likely originated from when students stay up too late doing last-minute projects, assignments, or just doing regular homework. Sometimes, they may have stayed up late due to a test they are studying for. Some students may also have other activities such as sports or dance, which could push back the time for homework some more. But how serious would this problem be? To begin with, school performance is not the only thing that can be affected in a teen’s health. Consequently, being sleep deprived can lead to obesity, easy irritation, becoming more prone to acne, limited learning ability to listen and concentrate, poor memory, depression, and suicidal thoughts. This could cause a higher risk of substance abuse in teens, because there may be a dependence on sleep medications. The effect of lower test grades can also harm a student’s future - possibly preventing them from getting into better colleges and
It is true that sleep deprivation is a widespread issue, generally resulting from early start times. It is also a serious one; according to a study by Harvard Medical School, sleep deprivation can lead to issues such as obesity, heart disease, difficulty learning, and can genuinely shorten a person’s lifespan. As Robbins explains, teenagers have a different internal sleep clock than other age groups. It is most healthy for students in high school to go to bed around 11 and wake up around 9. Since school often begins as early as 7, students are told they simply need to go to bed early, around 8 or 9 PM. This contention does not take into account the fact that humans are biologically not wired this way, and it's virtually impossible for most teens to fall asleep this early. It also doesn't take into account that with clubs, sports, church, volunteering, other extracurriculars and hours of homework, students often struggle to start their homework before their suggested “bedtime”. It is contended that students can control their own schedules so that they can get more sleep. However, pressure from parents and peers to get into a “good” college can cloud students’ perceptions of what is right for them, making them choose to overwork themselves in order to build impressive resumes. I myself can identify with this phenomenon. During the weekdays alone, I volunteer two nights a
79% of American middle school and high school students take part regularly in at least one after-school extracurricular activity. Many students participate in sports that can take up to 4 hours of their time, daily. Homework takes time to do after school and extracurriculars. If a student goes to school at 9:00 and gets out at 4:00, then goes to an after-school activity from 4:00 to 6:00, they will come home and have dinner from about 6:30 to 7:15, which means that they will probably start homework at around 7:30. This means that high school students will be up until about 11:00 finishing their homework, that’s without factoring in how much time the students will waste.
How many times has this happened to you; it’s six thirty on a Tuesday morning, your alarm has already gone off twice, your still laying in bed and your bus comes in twenty minutes. This is an everyday occurrence at my house. It is a proven statistic that the average high school student does not get enough sleep. While some experts like Dr. Lee Yanku say “It is not the schools starting time that is the problem as to why students don’t get enough sleep, it is because of facebook, myspace and cell phones” The truth behind it is that we can’t budget sports, homework and extracurricular activities into one day and still get nine hours of sleep. This is hurting student’s academic averages and needs to change. Changing the school time will help boost academic averages among students, and isn’t th...
Teens spend most of their day at school but are unable to fulfill their learning opportunities because of little or no sleep.
Sleep deprivation is very common in adolescents and can contribute to many different problems that can be avoided with simple changes in daily sleep routines. According to the article, “young and sleep deprived” by Karen Weintraub many psychologists want to persuade middle schools and high schools to push back start times to increase safety and performance in their students’ everyday lives. They claim that the reason why teenagers are drowsy and experience impaired attention span in class is because of sleep deprivation. Psychologists claim this because students around the United States are waking up before their circadian rhythms or internal clocks tell them to awake. Therefore, if students awake before their circadian
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 the majority of adolescents retain more information later in the day. Contrary to this information, America’s school systems are programmed to begin early in the day, which according to the sleep rhythms of most teenagers, they should still be sleeping.
Adolescents all around the world stay up playing video games, playing on their phones, playing around with their friends, or cramming in an assignment that’s due the next day due to their procrastination. With all these contributing factors, sleep is the last thing on any teen’s mind. School work has a big effect on teens while trying to do it and do it right and get a good night’s sleep every night. The more and more sleep you get each night, the easier it is to get better grades in school, understand things better, and progress easier and faster. Lack of sleep can cause teens to not care thus making their effort poor on their work while their drive and motivation to learn is
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.
Were you aware that teens tend to have irregular sleeping patterns that can harm their body and the way it functions? When it comes to sleep, teens are inclined to stay up very late during the week and wake up very early in the morning. On the weekends, they seem to gravitate more towards waking up very late to catch up on the sleep that they missed earlier in the week. Now that you know what the causes of having irregular sleeping patterns can do to a teenager’s body, you will be able to see the positive and negative effects of what not having enough sleep can do to one’s self. These facts will be explored through the articles “Should Schools Start Later” by Justin O’Neill and “Why Schools Should Start Later in the Morning” by Emily Richmond.
Among adolescents and teenagers lack of sleep has become an epidemic. Teenagers believe that sleep is expendable when, in reality, it is extremely important for teens to receive sufficient sleep. Alexandra Robbins argues in her book, The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, that teenagers are willing to sacrifice sleep for success and that this way of thinking is harmful to adolescent development. It is because of this way of thinking and the negative effect it has, that the start time of high schools should be pushed back. Through evidence provided by Robbins and an outside source, it can be asserted that the start time of high schools should be pushed back.
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
Did you know that more than eighty-seven percent of high school students in the United States get far less than the recommended eight to ten hours of sleep? It is important for students all across the nation to perform their best. Individuals can’t succeed to the best of their ability, without the recommended hours of sleep their brain needs. Schools across the country are debating whether it would be more favorable to start their school earlier or later. In this essay, it talks about the importance of student sleep patterns and the impact of student academic performance.
“Students are bordered on pathologically sleepy”said professor Carskadon. Carskadon and his group of researchers found out that students that showed up to the morning classes that start around 7:20 required the students to be awake at times which ran against their “ internal clocks”. More than half of the 10th grade students get less than 7 hours of sleep, which already below what is recommended.
Fifty six percent of students report being tired throughout the school day, which can lead to missed information and confusion (Wysong). According to this statistic, over half the students in class are not going to achieve their maximum learning potential in school. In order to avoid this problem, a teenager's brain typically needs to sleep from 11:00 pm to 8:00 am (“High schools starting later to help sleepy teens”). However, most high schools require students to be in class as early as 7:15 or 7:30 am. As a result, many adolescents simply do not have the opportunity to get enough rest. Changing the traditional school time to start later in the day will benefit adolescent sleep cycles, promote learning, and prevent disease by regulating the body. Ideally,...