The Great American Sleep Recession: Everybody finds that on some nights they are not getting enough sleep. But, what most people don’t realize is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention goes as far as to call sleep deprivation a health epidemic. And the group of people it is most affecting is teens. When surveying 270,000 teens in 8th, 10th, 12th between 1991 to 2012, researchers found that teens were getting less and less sleep every night. Teens should be getting up to 9 hours of sleep, but are only getting 7 on average and scientist are not entirely sure why this is happening. They believe pressure on a good college admission and increased social media use could be some of the reasons teens are getting less sleep. Another factor that could cause trouble sleeping at night is napping. A study with Archives of Disease in Childhood states that if children are taking naps over the age of two, there is a chance it is only causing them to sleep worse at night
Sleep deprivation has a lot of negative effects including making us eat more, shrinking our brains, leading to type two diabetes, slow reaction time, and so much more. But, there are ways to help people fall asleep and stay asleep including mindful meditation and other forms of relaxation before bedtime. Another way to improve sleep quality is going to bed and waking up at the same time every day as well as avoiding heavy meals before bed. If Americans decide to change their sleeping habits for the better, maybe the sleeping epidemic could come to an end.
If Teenagers Get More Sleep, California Could Gain Billions: The recommended hours of sleep for a teenager is 8 to 10 hours, yet scientists observe that only 40% of teens are meeting this requirement on a daily basis. And although many people may believe that the main cause of these issues can be social media, busy social lives, or homework, the main cause of these issues can be related to the start times of schools. This issue, being especially debated in California, has made its way to the senate and they have proposed a law that middle school and high school can start no earlier than 8:30 AM. Even though this would only change the start of a school day by less than a half hour, getting this much more sleep could potentially increase graduation rates from high school and college from 8% to 13%. On top of this, it could also help reduce tardiness, absences, and improve overall teen wellbeing. Although some people object, saying that teens will then just go to bed later, the science says no, for the most part teens will go to bed at the same time but find themselves waking up later and their sleep quality will be better. Another concern is up front costs that could result from pushing the school day back, but, researchers from the Rand Corp actually produced data showing that the US could gain financial gains of up to $83 billion. This goes to show that most states would break even of the original amount they spent changing to later start times within 2 years. All in all, it seems like pushing start times of schools back would only increase productivity of students and help the country as a whole.
The Science of Adolescent Sleep: Experts say that Biology shows adolescents’ bodies want to stay up late and sleep in lte. This puts them off schedule for school and causes them to feel drowsy and tired. This chronic tiredness can affect their health, well-being, behavior, and safety. One solution discussed at a conference was a later school start time. It is argued that teenagers with early school start times are at risk for regular sleep deprivation. Getting enough sleep is crucial for your body. It helps to maintain focus, alertness, repair brain cells, and clear out toxic metabolites.
