The Effects of Lack of Sleep in High School Students

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Hitting their obnoxious alarm clocks, millions of high school students in the United States wake up at 6:00 am for school every day. Long before the sun rises, students rush through their morning rituals of washing, dressing, and eating. Aside from school, students often have sports, clubs, work, and social time. Once students return home, they begin their homework assignments that take several hours and cause them to sleep late. As a result, high school students who need a minimum of eight to nine hours of sleep barely receive seven. This shortage in sleep often causes several detrimental consequences. However, there is a simple solution to this dilemma. High school classes should start later in the day because the associated lack of sleep negatively affects behavior, academic success, and physical health.

With minimal sleep, high school students are often tardy and barely awake for their first period class. When students don’t receive their necessary sleep, they find themselves unfocused and easily distracted. Like a computer, the human brain requires time to reboot in the morning. Like an overworked hard-drive, students take a longer time to restart with less sleep. Scientist Matthew Kirby explains that reduced sleep delays the chemical release of nitric oxide which causes a late and prolonged “wake-up” period (56). During this time, students are unable to fully process information and feel dazed. Aside from a slow thought process, slept deprivation is usually accompanied by irritability, frustration irrationality due to tiredness and stress. As a parent, it is unfathomable to even consider that their child might resort to drugs or alcohol as a form of relaxant, but according to a study by Heather Noland, up to 15% of ad...

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...he Circadian sleep cycle of teenagers, most students would continue to feel tired around 11:00 pm and fall asleep (226). Since students will continue to have the same sleep time, school districts should implement a later start time to increase sleep. Furthermore, because extracurricular activities are voluntary and not a primary source of education, they should be considered a separate responsibility and not affiliated with academics.

Sleep is a necessity in all people, especially in growing high school students. Many researchers have found that without sleep, there are various negative consequences, especially for teenagers. Sleep is a crucial element of good behavior, physical health, and academic success for high school students. Parents can influence school district policies and make an effort to have late school start times to avoid potential problems.

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