English 111 2/6/13 Summary According to “Americas Sleep-Deprived teens” we aren’t getting enough sleep and in some instances to much sleep. Many teens are falling asleep in class and not getting there work done. Weather it’s the parents not knowing, everyday pressures or other factors the fact is children aren’t getting enough sleep. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) conducted a survey and the findings were pretty interesting. While many parents claim that they know there children’s sleeping patterns and make sure they get enough sleep, more than one half (56%) of adolescents say they get less sleep than recommended.
More than 90% of high school students in America suffer throughout the school day because of chronic sleep deprivation. Students, parents, teachers, and doctors have begun to question the start times of schools and their effect on students. Schools may begin early to allow time for extracurricular activities and sports practices at the end of the school day. By beginning earlier, students and teacher get home earlier. But overtime, early start times have developed negativities in the lives of adolescents.
Constantly being for the same class, students begin to fail, and who wouldn't be upset from that? Students then begin to act horrible in class. All of this could of been prevented if school start times were late. "Research shows that tropical adolescents natural time to fall asleep may be 11 pm or later; because of this change in their internal clocks, teens may feel wide awake at bedtime, even when they are exhausted. Adolescents require at least as much as they did as children generally 8 and a half each night" A person that's exhausted, can be very dangerous when out in a serious situation such as driving.
Their education can be hindered and the effectiveness of the learning practices put into place in schools are significantly lowered. The article states: “Teens spend a great portion of each day in school; however, they are unable to maximize the learning opportunities afforded by the education system, since sleep deprivation impairs their ability to be alert, pay attention, solve problems, cope with stress and retain information
As childhood progresses, the need for sleep decreases, but in adolescence it increases slightly, to around 9 or 10 hours a night. Circadian rhythms are also known to change which cause teenagers to feel naturally more awake later at night and have more difficulty getting up early (phase delay). A distinguishing feature of adolescent REM sleep is that in males it is sometimes accompanied by orgasm or ejaculation, which is significantly less likely at other ages.
We try to fit everything into one day and then work into the night to accomplish the impossible. According to “How Sleep Debt Hurts College Students”, by June J. Pilcher and Amy S. Walters, “College students are not aware of the extent to which sleep deprivation impairs their ability to complete cognitive tasks…”. Even if we get only a few hours of sleep, we college students use a variety of methods to try and beat Mr. Sandman. From coffee to energy drinks to pinching ourselves, there are many ways we try and cram as much as possible into a 24-hour period. One question I have come across in my years as a student isn’t the how we say awake, but the why we stay awake.
Reduced sleep can add manic and hypomania episodes. Studies have found that 25% to 65% of bipolar patients who had a manic episode have experienced social rhythm disruption prior to the episode [ (AstraZeneca, 2009) ]. Social rhythm disruption can throw off a person’s sleeping cycle. This can be as simple as staying up late working, watching television or even being nervous about something and not being able to sleep. Once a person lacking sleep has gone into mania they start believing that they do not need sleep and will stay awake for more than 20 hours, this makes the disorder worse [ (AstraZeneca, 2009) ].
That was not enough to meet an adult’s minimum sleeping hours, which is eight hours per night. I want to modify this sleeping behavior because I felt that not getting enough sleep was a negatively affecting my health, mood, and my academic career. When I lacked of the sleeping, I would feel tired, irritated, and fall asleep
Back to High School Means Less Sleep for Students As bad as it is, the new school year is just starting up and students are already sleep deprived. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has declared the frequent sleep-iness of our nation’s teenagers to be a chronic public health crisis of the nation. The series of cases involving busy students, forced to stay up late at night in order to finish their home-work, need to do so if they plan to be successful. These teens are involved in a variety of activities and have so much to do, from editing the school newspaper and playing second base on the softball team to working at the local deli to earn money to pay for a car, and don’t usually start working on their homework until late after when “normal” citizens retire to sleep. The AAP called on schools to start later so students could get additional sleep.
According to the ADAA, “Nearly one-half of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder,” (ADAA). Mayo Clinic states that problems with self-esteem like obesity, peer problems, bullying, or academic expectations, can increase the risk of developing depression (Clinic Staff). Schools are a major source of student depression because they create academic expectations that praises students with high grade-point averages and disapproves students with low grades, when the system should be instead, a system that supports students of all types of intelligence. Schools also do little to prevent bullying and preventing peer problems, other elements that cause depression in students. There are claims of anti- bullying programs being implemented by some schools decreasing bullying by as much as 12 percent, but the implementation of anti- bullying programs also causes children to believe words can hurt them forever, making children more hypersensitive to insults, increasing the chance of them being bullied (Kalman).