Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Personal effect of sleep deprivation
Lack of sleep in high school students
Personal effect of sleep deprivation
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Personal effect of sleep deprivation
"A third of our life we spend sleeping. This period, when the body is at rest and sensory input is more or less inactive, is in fact a time of intense activity for the brain" (Sleep and It 's Secrets). Many high schools start at 7:30 am, which means that to get the recommended eight to nine hours of sleep, high schoolers would have to be asleep by 9:00 pm. With sports practices, club meetings, music lessons and practice, homework, and studying, a bedtime that early is unheard of for these teens. Sleep is a crucial aspect of development and functioning, but with school start times this early, teenagers aren 't getting enough. Biologically, they are not wired to go to bed early and start school so early. This means, academically, they are …show more content…
Both are related to a lack of attention, tardiness, and absence. At best, the students are unable to grasp and retain the information the homework tries to teach because they lose focus and do it quickly, as a task in and of itself. Often, they are either copying homework, choosing not to do the homework, or deciding not to study at all, in hopes of getting every single minute of sleep. High school is a prime time for educational growth, with fast paced learning, Advance Placement classes, research projects, and multiple tests a week. However, due to the students lack of sleep, students aren 't able to truly absorb the presented material. They don 't reflect on research they are given or expand on the topics that interest them. Attempts to improve or increase their ability to attend or focus can result in unhealthy and unsafe practices of consuming large amounts of caffeine (coffees and high energy drinks) or taking others ' prescription stimulants (Ritalin and Xanax). Decreased learning and poor retention are also a result of tardiness and absences. "One Carnegie Mellon University study found that sleeping less than seven hours a night associated with a tripled risk of coming down with a cold" (Schocker). This increased illness hinders school attendance, as does the inability to wake up on time. Students, who are home sick, who are …show more content…
Studies have found a link between a lack of sleep and heightened risk of disease, forming later in life. Discovery News author, Emily Sohn, said that "chronic sleep deprivation can cause obesity... and other ills" (Sohn). Along with that, dementia, hypertension, and strokes can also be a result of an insufficient amount of sleep
People often overlook the importance of sleep, when sleep is actually necessary to survive. “Poor sleep can contribute to weight gain, headaches, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, an impaired immune system, and attention deficit disorder” (Lai, Wei-Shin). Over the past century Americans are consistently getting less sleep than needed due to multiple different factors. I can personally relate to not getting a good night’s sleep and facing the consequences of sleep deprivation. Overall, sleep is more important than we think when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.
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
Sleep! That wonderful, blissful void between last night and this morning. Sleep is one of the most basic functions of life. Nearly all creatures must sleep in order to properly carry out tasks; teenagers are no exception. The typical teenager needs an average of nine to ten hours of sleep a night in order for their brains to be capable of working at full capacity. School starts so early that they infringe upon that basic necessity. In order for teens to receive an adequate amount of sleep, it is mandatory to enact later start times for high schools across the country.
...ns behind the process. Reliable sources indicate that sleep deprived individuals display a greater difficulty in performing everyday tasks compared to well rested individuals. The study also reveals that sleep deprivation is linked to obesity, depression, anxiety and the suppression of the immune system. The research conducted suggests that sleep deprivation can be recognised in adults by mood fluctuations, and difficulty in concentration, while children will tend to become emotionally explosive. The findings also detail simple lifestyle alterations available to combat sleep deprivation.
“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 up cycle, which can make early school start times particularly challenging.” says Boergers.
The vulnerability of the body to diseases increases as sleep deprivation continues. The immune system is greatly affected and defenses are weakened, leaving the body exposed to the changing environment. Not all changes happen externally, internal changes are fluctuating as well. For instance, sleep fragmentation with feelings of choking and daytime sleepiness are mechanisms for anxiety shown in sleep apnea (Fong329). Continuous interruption of sleep can make a person believe that they won’t get any better. This lays out a blueprint for unwanted thoughts and actions. When a sleep disorder is present, the individual should expect further complications and visits to the doctor. Seeing a person who is sleep deprived can further conclude the danger of it. An individual who simply hasn’t sleep in days will not be aware of the environment as much, which will lead to stumbling, running into things, and other tangible dangers. This also makes work related tasks much more difficult. Depending on the importance and alert level needed, having enough sleep is imperative. Indeed, weight gain is noticeable in people who have sleep disorders. Increased BMI relates to severe sleep obstruction, making a solid link between obesity and sleep deprivation (Bocicor 223). A hormone called leptin tells the body to stop eating, being sleep deprived will make less leptin. This causes the body to want to eat,
Insufficient sleep has adverse effect on our health like obesity, heart attack, stroke etc. One of my friends works at night shift. Almost every night she goes to the work and come at morning. Due to her work schedule she does not have the proper time to sleep and to eat a balanced diet on a regular basis or what our body need every day. Even though she slept at morning, she cannot get proper sleep because sometime she needs to go to market, most of the time her roommate make noise or invite some friends. Because of these things she always looks tired and sleepy. As we know she works at night, she drank lots of energy drink. She has no time to eat at home as no one cook food at home. She depends on the fast food which have lots of calories. She works at store which is not that busy but she has stay up all night. Therefore, her metabolism rate is slow as compared to the amount of fast food she ate. After a month when I saw her she looks different like gaining some weight or having puffy face. But looking at her eating pattern and the sleeping condition, that result shocked me. So I asked her like what she eat, and how many hours she sleep? I looked up on the internet and find out that sleep deprivation causes such a thing. So I agree with the statement provided by Mr. Tesh on his video.
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.
Sleeping disturbances (i.e. sleeping too much, or too little) was not indicated during the initial assessment and should be screened for. Sleep deprivation has been linked to substance abuse, irritability; physical complications such as heart attack; obesity, insomnia and depression. Public health hazards such as accidents and work injuries; poor academic and work performance; decreased energy levels; dramatic mood changes; weakened immune system; and cognitive impairment (i.e. memory loss, concentrating, problem solving, attention and reasoning) have also been linked to sleeping disorders.
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” (...
One of the most common forms of chronic conditions is cardiovascular disease. This disease is commonly known to disrupt the normal function of the brain. From heart disease, many things can happen, for an example, heart attack and stroke. Although rare and not very commonly known they do happen from lack of sleep and sleep deprivation can be one of the leading cause to a heart attack or stroke if cardiovascular diseases is formed. Not only can a cardiovascular diseases be found, but obesity can also happen. It may seem pretty odd that obesity can happen due to the lack of sleep, but it happens by the lack of brain function and then releases certain hormones that will increase your appetite causing you to gain weight. Once you gain a reasonable amount of weight many aspects of your life will be affected, such as physical activity, and self hate. Obesity, increases many other health risk such as diabetes and breathing problems. Although depressing, if issues relying on sleep are not handled properly, people are risking early mortality. At this stage, they are no longer just affecting their self, but also everyone else around them. People no longer become their own issue but also the family and friends around them, because if they become sick enough the people around them will need to help them and care for them. When dealing with sleep deprivation, make sure to handle it correctly
...y serious when people are not sleeping as much as they should , death or possible diseases have more of a chance of happening . Many people, students in particular think they are just hurting themselves when they don't sleep the recommended hours a night. In conclusion the results of lack of sleep are , people suffering from diseases, lack of motivation and in extreme cases death.
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.
The alarm goes off at six am and the typical high school student is barely able to open their eyes. It is time to get up and prepare for a full day at school, about eight hours. Most teenagers, according to the National Sleep Foundation, will only get about six hours of sleep since they tend to stay up until midnight (“Should schools start later in the day?”). After getting ready, many students look forward to a nap in their first hour class despite the information they will miss. Teenagers seem to always have had trouble getting up in the morning, even earning the title of lazy from their parents. However, recent research on adolescent sleep patterns has produced a biological explanation for this tendency. This raises a serious question: why are high schools starting early in the morning when teenagers are biologically programmed to sleep in? For most cases, school start time has not been conformed to fit student physiological needs simply because of transportation issues.
These in turn can cause weight gain in adolescents and may take the form of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. I will also shed light on some of the other long- term health effects of sleep deprivation such as type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and gastrointestinal disorders. I will also point out that sleep disruption may also be associated with the increase in the risk of certain cancers and even death. This is because excessive exposure to light at night decreases production of melatonin (sleep hormone) which can lead to acceleration of tumor growth, that may have carcinogenic