Sleep Needs of Adolescents
If we asked you what are your top five priorities today, would sleep be on that list? Sleep is such an underappreciated necessity in life, especially in the lives of teenagers. Even though, sleep deficit affects everything from someone's ability to pay attention in class to his or her mood, According to a National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America poll (NSFS), more than 25% of high school students fall asleep in class. Experts have tied lost sleep to poorer grades and teens' ability “to do their best in athletics” (Gavin 2013). Getting enough sleep is not emphasized enough for teenagers, which could have detrimental affects to their academic performance, physical and mental development.
Researchers from Uppsala University “found that sleep-deprived teens or those suffering from short sleep duration (less than 7 hours per day) face a heightened risk of failure in school” (University Herald 2014). During our high school years, we’ve all fallen asleep or witnessed students sleeping during class. Granted, sometimes there are legitimate reasons for a student falling asleep: working on a project, school sports/clubs, work, etc. However, a majority of those students that were falling asleep in our classes were usually those students with below average grades and absolutely no reason to not get enough sleep the night before. There have been millions of students that procrastinate studying for a test and decide to study until the early hours of the morning. “Research has consistently shown that taking the time to sleep before an exam will benefit your test score more than four or five hours of staying awake staring at notes that you will not remember. In fact, the National Institutes of Health found sleep deprived students have lower GPA's due to the fact that it impacts memory and concentration” (Oexman 2012). In other words, stop skipping your sleep to stay up late and study, you’re not going to remember it!
During the teen years, adolescents grow faster than they have at any time since they were infants. The following are statistics collected by Dr. Nelson from the University of Delaware: “During a one-year growth spurt, boys and girls can gain an average of 4.1 inches and 3.5 inches in height respectively. This spurt typically occurs two years earlier for girls than for boys. Weight gain results from increased muscle development in boys and body fat in girls” (Nelson, 2012). Obviously, no teenager is going to get excited about going to bed because they’re wanting to get maximum growth. However, if we can educate our students/kids on the importance of sleep maybe they’ll find the significance. We found an awesome website that tracks sleep, http://www.sleepshack.com.au, and thought it would be a great tool to tell your students about and let them do the research of their sleep themselves.
Sleep is essential to healthy brain adolescent brain development. Your students may not believe it, but next time they have a rebuttal when you tell them to get more sleep just encourage them to: wind down before bed by getting rid of any and all electronics, incorporate a regular sleeping routine, and be in a comfortable quiet, sleeping environment. “Young people are sleeping just seven-and-a-half hours on weeknights, a full two hours less than experts recommend for adolescents, a new poll by the National Sleep Foundation has found. Such sleep deficits may interfere with brain development and increase the chance that a teen will develop attention deficit disorder and other cognitive problems, along with heightened risks for obesity, immune problems and depression, scientists now believe” (Carroll, 2011).
It is important for educators to know the facts regarding teen sleep needs. We need to know how to react to a student who may not be getting enough sleep. Instead of coming down on the student, we should educate them about why sleep is important, especially at their age. For example, you can provide an incentive program for those students that decide to consistently keep track of their sleep. All in all, sleep needs to be encouraged in our middle school students, but we can’t just tell them they need to sleep without giving them any reasons as to why it’s detrimental to their health.