Absence of sleep in teens is on the rise

by Esther Animalu, staff reporter

A sleepy teen digs his head into tightly folded arms. His outstretched legs are planted firmly against the ground. Swiftly, the teen begins to dream until he is abruptly awoken as his book slips out of his hand and collides onto the floor. Sleep deprivation is on a steady rise in adolescents, more and more students are suffering from a lack of sleep.

“I feel that teens are getting less sleep in today’s society. We’re always on our phones and up late at night completing homework. I always see students falling asleep during class daily. Getting less hours of sleep is scary because it can also lead to possible health risks and a fallback in education,” sophomore Isabella LoMonaco said.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, “Sleep is vital to your well-being, as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. It can even help you to eat better and manage the stress of being a teen… Teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best. Most teens do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights… Many teens suffer from treatable sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea.”

Through the mounds of homework, antagonizing examinations, and endless hours of studying, numerous teens are cutting back on sleep. It can, in turn, lead to a limited focus on learning, impacting listening skills and make it more challenging to concentrate and solve problems as a whole.

“I think that many students today, especially teens, are getting less sleep nowadays because we have the responsibility to work and take care of our school work while meeting the deadlines. Meanwhile, sometimes we may have problems and other obligations outside of school that we need to handle,” junior Michele Mosheyeva said.

The surge of sleep depravity in teens has been a gradual increase throughout various academic years and doesn’t appear to deteriorate anytime soon. However, in relation to recent studies, shortages of sleep in adolescents can also pose serious health related risks in the future.

As noted by ABC News, “In a 2010 study published in the journal Sleep, researchers at the West Virginia University School of Medicine reviewed data from 30,397 people who had participated in the 2005 National Health Interview Study. They discovered that those sleeping fewer than 7 hours a night were at increased risk of heart disease.”

“I definitely believe that we, as teens, are getting less sleep in today’s generation because there are so many other priorities that we have to meet that keeps us from doing so. Personally, I don’t get enough sleep because I have to stay up and complete assignments for different classes. And on the days that I don’t have homework, my phone and friends keep me up all night,” sophomore Leah Toledo said.

Overall, sleep enables people as a whole to have the energy to stay alerted and be on tasks. Thus, with the disintegration of sleep hours among adolescents, it can create a hindrance towards their learning in general. As a result, it is important for students to organize and plan out their schedules in order to attain a sufficient amount of sleep.