At six a.m. a high school student’s alarm clock goes off. By seven a.m. this typical student is on the way to school. A half hour later, he or she arrives at school and takes multiple tests and quizzes. After school, this student goes home, only to begin studying for tests and finishing homework that is due the next day. Sports practice, a part-time job and more schoolwork fills the rest of the evening; this is the average day of a teenager. Most teenagers do not realize the importance of fitting a reasonable amount of sleep into this daily routine.
A lack of rest not only affects a person’s mood, it also deteriorates a person’s health and can impair his or her mental and physical capabilities. Research has shown that teenagers need between eight and nine hours of sleep each night to properly function—more than adults and young children need. High school students require more sleep because their brains are still developing, and they need time for their bodies to grow. These steps allow the muscles to restore and for the growth hormones to secrete.
Ken Mason is the clinical manager at the Montrose Sleep Center. The sleep center provides people with treatments and solutions to sleeping issues. He explained that there are four different phases to sleep that must be completed in order to feel awake. First, during phase one, a light sleep takes place and it only lasts for a short while. Then, during the second phase, messages from the brain are sent and sensations, and pain will begin to disappear. This phase begins a deep sleep. Phase three and four are combined into one step called slow wave sleep. Lastly, REM sleep allows the brain to process dreams as it helps restore a person’s psychological well-being.
Mason explained that those who sleep fewer than five hours a night have a much greater chance of acquiring hyper- tension. Also, women are 45% more likely to have heart problems if they receive less than five hours of sleep. A lack of sleep also leads to depression and obesity. Mason expressed that teenagers often believe that sleep is waste of time, but through sleep the body is able to restore energy and grow. Mason acknowledged the importance of sleep for teenagers.
"[Sleep is important] so [teenagers] can stay sharp in school. If they participate in athletics [or] extracurricular activities, it’s important for them to get sleep so that they can stay sharp mentally and so they can stay sharp physically…. As a teenager if you’re sleep deprived, you don’t have very much energy, you’re very tired, you’re probably very anxious, [and] you probably are not very corporative; whereas the folks that get their sleep, they can function better," Mason said.
Philomena Pirozzi, a medical doctor at Ghent Family Practice, noted that a lack of sleep affects teenagers’ ability to make decisions.
"Teenagers [who] sleep more get involved less with drugs, cigarettes, fights and eat less than those people who don’t [get enough sleep]," Pirozzi said.
On weekdays many teenagers stay up late finishing homework, studying, playing sports or working part-time jobs. Therefore, on the weekends, most think they can make up for the sleep they missed during the week by sleeping in until noon on Saturday morning. Ellen Friery, the psychology teacher at Revere, explained that people often think they can "catch up" on sleep by snoozing longer; however, teenagers need to set up a sleeping schedule that they follow every week in order to feel refreshed and ready to go every morning. Friery explained the effects of not receiving enough sleep.
"You’re not as sharp…. You’re not thinking clearly…. You feel sluggish; you might be in a bad mood and kind of grumpy. It can affect your mood, your thinking and your reaction time. When you’re driving or doing something, your reaction time is affected if you’re exhausted," Friery said.
Pirozzi acknowledged that people who are suffering from a lack of sleep are irritable, unfocused during class and have less energy to exercise. Students can take quick power naps; about thirty minutes to an hour helps to build energy. Simple yoga exercises can help as well. Mason explained how a lack of sleep can worsen one’s body condition.
"If somebody [is] asthmatic or if they have problems they can actually make that condition worse by depriving themselves of sleep. Getting sleep is actually your way to fix your body or tune your body up," Mason said.
Friery explained that if phone call or another distraction interrupts a sleep cycle, one will not feel as well rested. Friery also noted that new laws have been created to help avoid the dangers that a person who is overly exhausted can cause when behind the wheel of a vehicle.
"You used to get what was called a DUI, driving under the influence. It’s now called OVI, operating a vehicle while impaired…. If you’re falling asleep at the wheel you can be cited for operating a vehicle while impaired. You don’t have to have done any drugs or drinking, you’re just exhausted and you’re not driving right," Friery said.
In other words, if a person drives without receiving enough sleep or falling asleep while driving, he or she can face serious consequences. Mason noted that if someone is tired while driving, that person should pull over and take a quick nap so that he or she can drive home safely. There are also other sleeping conditions that can affect a person’s driving.
"There is what we call micro sleep where you are driving you can fall asleep and not realize that you’re falling into sleep and in a very short period of time you can travel quite a distance and run into somebody or run off the road or into a pole, things along those lines," Mason said.
Pirozzi explained that exercising evens out high school students’ sleeping schedules because it causes them to become more tired, allowing them to fall asleep easier. One of the reasons why teenagers may not be sleeping as much is because of a lack of exercise. Pirozzi also noted that recent studies have shown that the Internet, video games and cell phones affect people’s ability to fall asleep and stay asleep for a long period of time.
Lydia Franks, a sophomore at Revere, said that she receives between six to seven hours of sleep on school nights due to soccer practice and playing video games. Franks explained that she used to listen to music and watch television while trying to fall asleep; however, after a while, she realized that the electronics prevented her from falling asleep quickly. Franks expressed the fact that her sleep schedule often changes.
"On weekends, some nights I will get like four hours of sleep and some nights I will get about fourteen. It’s probably not healthy," Franks said.
While most teenagers have busy schedules, they need to fit in a good night’s sleep. Teenagers need to be aware of the importance of sleep and how it helps them function every day. Without the proper amount of sleep teenagers have a more difficult time growing, focusing and socializing at school, as well as throughout the rest of their teenage years.