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Brooke Silcox

Professor Leonard

English 1201

11 March 20

How Important is Sleep?

Some teens may think of sleep as not a top priority. With demanding schoolwork,

keeping up with good grades, sports, extracurriculars, and some may even have a job. How can

one teenager manage to fit all of that into a sixteen-hour schedule when experts say that they

need at least eight hours of sleep a night? Sleeping for young adults is critical for their

development and shapes how they will behave when they are older. What are the causes and

effects of sleep deprivation in teens?

Some benefits of sleeping are it gives you energy, fat burning, heart-healthy, boosts your

immune system, and helps your social abilities. Sleep is meant to help your body repair itself.

Some teens may not realize that with a lack of sleep it can cause memory loss, damage organs,

cause weight gain, and lower concentration levels (Benefits of Sleep -- The Impact of Sleep on

the Body). Lack of sleep has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease which is where you lose your

memory. With lack of sleep, daily routines can become dangerous and may cause teens not to be

as cautious (Benefits of Sleep -- The Impact of Sleep on the Body). Such as driving with lack of

sleep your not only putting yourself in danger but you’re putting others in danger as well.

In teens changes in behavior can be linked to their sleeping patterns. Without enough

sleep, it can cause teens to become depressed. Depression is more common in young people than
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it is in older people and is more common in young females than young males. Depression can

leave short term or long terms effects on the body depending on how severe it was. Without

proper hours of sleep, teens can fall into the misuse of drugs and may even attempt suicide. Also,

without enough sleep as a young adult, it can cause problems in their future with further mental

illnesses and may cause unemployment and could seriously impact their development as the teen

gets older. (Annalijn).

The recommended hours of sleep for a teenager are eight and a half hours and that’s the

minimum. With school times starting early in the morning that means teenagers have to go to

sleep at around nine (“Common Sleep Problems (for Teens) - Nemours KidsHealth.”). That’s

not accounting for homework, sports, or a job after school. Teenager’s circadian rhythms aren’t

meant to go to sleep early and wake up early. The teenage brain produces a hormone called

melatonin and its produced later in the day than children and adults. That makes the teenager

want to fall asleep later. This sleep cycle can be so detrimental to some teenagers that it messes

with their daily schedules and how they perform in school (“Common Sleep Problems (for

Teens) - Nemours KidsHealth.”).

Some ways sleep can be affected not by biology but by other factors such as; demanding

schoolwork, using technology right before bed, and extracurriculars. These activities delay

bedtime and take away hours of sleep a teenager should be getting. Not getting enough sleep

makes teenagers more vulnerable to negative moods. This impacts not only school work but how

teenagers treat others and their overall motivation throughout the day (Shen). With a good sleep

schedule, there have been studies shown to how teenager’s grades have gone up, they’re more
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motivated, eat healthier, and are in an overall better mood. This makes teens have a good

mindset to make healthier and better choices for themselves.

Some arguments that have been going on for a long time and vary from state to state and

district to district is should schools start later in the day? The arguments have been going on for a

long time but scientific research has shown that later start times improve the kid’s academics and

performance in school. The reasons for why some people do not want to start school later is

because of sports and extracurriculars. The times for those events would be pushed back because

the teens would be let out of school later. That would make the students get home late and start

on their homework later in the night. Although with research saying that sports teams were not

affected by the change in times and parents have said, “their teens are easier to live with”, the

people who are in charge still haven’t realized how beneficial later strat times are to everybody

(Wahlstrom).

Perhaps some people could blame the teenager for not having good time management and

being on their phone too often to not getting their work done or people could blame the school

system for having early start times despite the scientific research say that later start times are

beneficial. A possible way for teens to get more sleep is teens have to find a daily routine that is

best for them and keeps them on track throughout the school year. Another answer to how a teen

can get more sleep is they need to set certain times to get things done and be disciplined with

their technology usage. I need to dig deeper to see how many different states have changed

school times and how it affects the students and possibly find some interviews of students who

witness this firsthand.

Works Cited

Annalijn I. Conklin, et al. “Chronic Sleep Deprivation and Gender-Specific Risk of

Depression in Adolescents: A Prospective Population-Based Study.” ​BMC Public

Health,​ no. 1, 2018, p. 1. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5656-6. Accessed

26 February 2020.

“Benefits of Sleep -- The Impact of Sleep on the Body.” ​Positive Health,​ no. 254, May

2019, p. 5. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=136355990&site=ed

s-live. Accessed 26 February 2020.

“Common Sleep Problems (for Teens) - Nemours KidsHealth.” Edited by Rupal

Christine Gupta, ​KidsHealth,​ The Nemours Foundation, Aug. 2014,

kidshealth.org/en/teens/sleep.html. Accessed 26 February 2020.

Shen, Lin, et al. “Positive and Negative Emotions: Differential Associations with Sleep

Duration and Quality in Adolescents.” ​Journal of Youth & Adolescence,​ vol. 47,

no. 12, Dec. 2018, pp. 2584–2595. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1007/s10964-018-0899-1.

Accessed 26 February 2020.

Wahlstrom, Kyla L. “Later Start Time for Teens Improves Grades, Mood, and Safety.”

Phi Delta Kappan,​ vol. 98, no. 4, Dec. 2016, p. 8. ​EBSCOhost​,

doi:10.1177/0031721716681770. Accessed 26 February 2020.