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Causes of sleep deprivation in college students
The causes and effects of lack of sleep on students
Causes of sleep deprivation in college students
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Wake Up Sleepyhead! Recently my high school senior class has voted on class awards. These class awards include best hair, most talented, best dressed, and roughly ten more. I unanimously received the award, “Sleepyhead.” I was surprised that I unanimously received the award because so many of my classmates fall asleep during class as well. Research shows that on a typical day of high schools, 20% of students fall asleep during class. Unfortunately, sleeping is against the rules in all the classes in John I. Burton, and most likely restricted in the majority of schools. However, is the student at fault for falling asleep during class? No, class time beginning so early in the morning is why 20% of students fall asleep during class. Getting …show more content…
Many students like me participate in many extracurricular activities. Activities like basketball, football, marching band, scholastic bowl, cross country, and many more. Participating in extracurricular activities usually result in at least two hours of practice(s) after a school day (dismissal of school at about 3:30 P.M.). When we students were younger, getting home at 6 or 7 P.M. was okay because homework was very easy and we’re able to get enough sleep. However in high school, we students start to get into more difficult classes; even college leveled classes. These classes usually require at least one hour of time to be spent on homework to do well in the classes. With four difficult classes and extracurricular activities, it is nearly impossible to sleep by 10PM to receive proper sleep. This semester of my senior year, I am taking Western Civilization, English 111-112, Introduction to Business, and U.S. Government I & II; and, I am participating in marching band and scholastic bowl as extracurricular activities. Marching band practices at my school are Tuesday and Thursdays after school to 5 P.M, and football games we must attend and perform at on Fridays. In scholastic bowl, we are expected to study at least an hour on our own every day, and we have matches every Monday. With tough classes that need hours of work, extracurricular activities that require hours of practice, and a necessity for sleep, school starting later than it already does would be a blessing. Not to mention, people do need time to relax from hard work and
Many college students suffer from sleep deprivation; only a few students would say that they are getting enough rest at night. Sleep deprivation is caused by not receiving the amount of sleep that the human body needs to function properly throughout the day. Sleep deprivation has many causes and effects that most often lead to depression, physical illness, learning problems, and irregular sleep patterns; Elizabeth Austin offers two solutions to help college students cope with sleep deprivation.
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
Students may need to nap to compensate for energy expended throughout the day. However, if schools were to start later, adolescents would not have to nap, allowing for a larger window of time to spend with their families after school, even with a later start time. Another opposing argument is that students would have less time to participate in extracurricular activities. However, this issue can be resolved by making practices for sports and club meetings shorter and more frequent to accommodate the schedule variation. Overall, the benefits of later start times far outweigh the drawbacks.
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...
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.
One drawback to later start times is the fact that school would end later. Since schools that start later still have the same number of hours in a day, they would in turn end later in the afternoon. This can cause problems for after school activities, and also homework after school. Some students families depend on the money earned from working after school jobs. If the school they were attending got out later, they would have less time after school to work these jobs, so they would be unable to make the money they need to support their families (“Eight Major Obstacles to Delaying School Start Times”). In addition, any after school clubs or activities would end later after school, causing those involved to stay up later at
Some people may believe that starting school later wouldn't help kids and would waste money, by really they are wrong because it can give students much needed sleep. When the pros and cons are weighed, It's obvious that schools start time should be later because teens need sleep and it improves grades and test scores. So get out there and let kids sleep
Voluntary sleep deprivation is a common occurrence for many collge students, who often partially deprive themselves of sleep during the week and compensate by increasing their sleep time over the weekend. This pattern of sleep deprivation and rebound becomes more pronounced around examination periods, sometimes resulting in 24 to 48 hours of sleep deprivation. By depriving themselves of sleep, college students are not only increasing their feelings of sleepiness during the day, thus decreasing their ability to pay attention in class, but are also negatively affecting their ability to perform on exams.
The fact is that many students fall asleep during class. Remember that sleep isn’t something you can make yourself not want. Throwing water on your face. Listening to loud music, or taking a shower cannot make your bodies craving for sleep disappears. The fact is, puberty demands more 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 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.
IF schools started later we wouldn't have all these tired and groggy students coming to school we would have students that are refreshed and ready to learn. We will have students that have good grades. We will have students who have better test scores. And we will have students with overall better performance. I what you right now pick up your phone and call your district and say we want later start
“Bueller?…Bueller?” The monotone history teacher appearing in the popular 1980’s film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” proceeds to take role-call in his morning history class: a positively lethargic group of students, comically struggling to stay awake. As the teacher monotonously pronounces each name on the attendance list, one student gives a deadpan stare, mouth slightly agape and eyes drooping, while another student can’t beat the fatigue and sleeps with his head on his desk as a trickle of drool escapes his mouth. While this comic scene takes place on a Hollywood set, it is not far removed from many classroom situations across the country as Aarthi Belani, a high school student from Minnesota, notes about the 7:20 a.m. chemistry class she took her junior year. “It was an ungodly hour to be studying chemistry,” she recalls with a shiver; “In the first period, 75 percent of the kids would have their heads down on their desk at one time or another” (Bettelheim 4). Students in high schools from Maine to California find it equally grueling to stay awake during their morning classes since more and more schools choose to open their doors at the crack of dawn, many around 7:30 a.m. and some as early as 7:05 a.m. Dr. James B. Maas, a sleep expert and psychology professor at Cornell University, found that on average, 20 percent of high school students are so fatigued that they sleep at some point during the school day each week (Crombie 2). That’s a lot of beat kids in this country, a fact which has countless sleep experts, lawmakers, parents and teachers alarmed by the groggy state of America’s youth. High schools in this country simply start too early. Teenagers are being forced to ignore their bodies’ natural sleep/wake patterns in...
College students are no exception to the rule and are often at a greater risk of suffering from conditions that accompany sleep deprivation. Regardless of the time period, a college student must be well rested in order to perform at his or her best in terms of physical performance, memorization capabilities, and test-taking abilities. Also, without adequate sleep, the person will be more susceptible to illnesses, both mental and physical. In conclusion, I believe that sleep deprivation among college students is extremely common and has a direct effect on how well that student performs or feels.
For instance, students do not enjoy waking up in the super early morning, thus making them skip their morning class. If school started at a later time, students get an extra hour of sleep, as a result making it easier to get up and go to class. For the reasons above, making school start later would assist the students so much, giving them more sleep which results in higher grades and
Don't you hate waking up early for school in the morning? Most high school students wake up before the sun rises just to become ready for school. Teenage brains do not begin to function that early considering many are tired from staying up late the previous night. The National Sleep Foundation reported that most teens do not retain enough shuteye, one study found that only 15% reported sleeping eight 1/2 hours on school nights. That fact was extremely true for me when I attended high school. I barely was able to wake up, get dressed, and be in school on time since I was so tired. In my opinion school days should start later, precisely in between 9- 10 o'clock. If the school day started later attendance would improve, students will be more prepared, and student's attitudes and grades may improve.