Ivy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ivybgreenflower) wrote2004-10-08 12:20 am
ivybgreenflower) wrote2004-10-08 12:20 am
The Silent-Sleep Epidemic: Teenagers and the Lack of Sleep
Here's my essay. It's a bit wordy at 1093 words, but it was fun to write and I hope to get a good grade. :)
The Silent-Sleep Epidemic: Teenagers and the Lack of Sleep
Sleep is a luxury for almost every teenager. Society simply does not allow teens to place an importance on getting their required rest, and this has resulted in a sleep epidemic- teenagers do not get enough sleep. Teenagers sleep very little during the workweek and then try to play catch-up on the weekends, but this never works. Or they take naps, which is also insufficient. And most teens don’t even know they have a problem, but they do.
There is no getting around it: teenagers are insomniacs, whether they know it or not. It isn’t always their fault, however. Society places such an importance on jobs, grades, chores, sports teams, and, of course, social life, that sleep just doesn’t fit in the schedule. At a time in their lives when self-esteem truly becomes an issue, and anxiety and stress are part of the daily routine, how can teenagers’ expect to get to sleep? But when combined with the fact that no age group needs as much sleep as teenagers do except infants, the issue becomes apparent: there is a silent sleep epidemic, and it is adversely affecting every teen.
When surveyed, teenagers revealed that they knew there was a problem but said that they do not have any way of fixing it. When posed three questions, “As a teenager, do you feel you are getting enough sleep?”, “Do you think if you tried you could get enough sleep,” and “Do you feel that parents and teachers are understanding about sleep issues,” the answers were depressing. For the first question, one teenage girl responded with a series of “No, no no no no!” Another teenager could not answer properly because she was laughing too much. All she could say was, “Are you serious?” A third responded with “Well, maybe, sometimes… occasionally,” and a fourth said “When is there time?” So the answer to the second question is obvious: no. The teenagers surveyed replied that they were already trying. And as for the third question, things got pretty cynical. It became apparent that parents do not understand what is going on in their children’s lives and cannot make accurate decisions and demands. Teachers assign too much homework, even if it is necessary. They forget that their students have other homework to do, have jobs, social lives, extracurricular activities, and their own hobbies to take care of. Pressure from parents and teachers alike drives students to push back their bedtimes later and later until such ridiculous hours as “around dawn”, as one surveyed teen stated. Another girl said, “Maybe (they understand) when it’s their own (sleep issues).” And some teachers say that schoolwork should be the most important thing in a student’s life. While this is true in most cases, it does not mean that students should abandon the rest of their lives until graduation. Social interaction is necessary for mental health and building skills to last the rest of their lives.
What does the lack of enough sleep do to teenagers? It can cause quite a few problems many don’t realize exist. All teens know is that they are tired. While this is the most obvious symptom of sleep deprivation, it is not the worst. And it cannot easily be cured. One symptom would be memory loss. Students cannot remember as much as they would if they had gotten enough sleep, which leads to bad decisions, poor grades on standardized tests, and can lead to serious problems with family and friends. Although, their friends may be suffering as well, so no one would notice, but this only serves to prove the point that sleep deprivation is a problem. Another symptom of sleep deprivation is depression. When we sleep, our brains produce the chemicals necessary for mental development and physical well-being. When sleep is disturbed, the chemical balance is disturbed, possibly causing health problems and, most notably, depression. The teenage depression epidemic and the sleep epidemic go hand-in-hand. But prescription sleep aids can cause long-term problems such as dependency, lack in important REM sleep, and cost issues. The only real way to cure sleep deprivation is simply to sleep with a fixed but slightly flexible sleep pattern, which includes listening to the body- it knows when it needs to sleep. But can teenagers always sleep when they want to? No. And that is the problem.
But it is not a problem that can be easily solved. One of the most popular, albeit unused, plans for getting enough sleep would be to change the hours that school starts and ends. The public school system in Minneapolis tried this with mixed results. On the positive side, student performance rates went up, attitudes were better, and the teens were generally happier. The downside, though, was that teens had less time for extracurricular activities, so attendance to after-school clubs dropped dramatically. Some sports teams changed practices to the morning, defeating the purpose of later sessions for more schools. The children in elementary schools were often late, had no buses for field trips, and had compromised safety because the teenagers were not around after school to watch them. Also, teens had less time for part-time jobs, which hurt the Minneapolis economy. Some teenagers had these jobs to support the family income and their quitting or working fewer hours hurt their families. So while the students were performing well and were much healthier, society could not adapt to the change in routine and everything collapsed. This proves how society has been programmed to put pressure on teenagers and cannot cope when teenagers’ physical health and emotional well-being are put first. The problem, then, is society. This cannot be fixed overnight. Pills are only temporary and mask the real problem: teenagers can’t afford to sleep.
What can be done to solve this problem? Unfortunately the answer seems to be “nothing.” Teenagers need to do their homework, but they need sleep. Homework comes first. Jobs come first, friends come first, everything comes first. No one can call teenagers selfish after seeing how much damage is being done to them even when they perform the bare minimum of work society expects them to do. Teenagers did benefit greatly from later school starting times- attendance rates went up, reaction time quickened, memory improved, etc. But everything else just could not deal with teenagers being a little selfish for their own good, and thusly the sleep epidemic will continue, poorly documented and largely ignored, unless, of course, society makes a major change. It may sound cynical, but, as said in the above survey, “that just won’t happen.”
-@12:22 AM
The Silent-Sleep Epidemic: Teenagers and the Lack of Sleep
Sleep is a luxury for almost every teenager. Society simply does not allow teens to place an importance on getting their required rest, and this has resulted in a sleep epidemic- teenagers do not get enough sleep. Teenagers sleep very little during the workweek and then try to play catch-up on the weekends, but this never works. Or they take naps, which is also insufficient. And most teens don’t even know they have a problem, but they do.
There is no getting around it: teenagers are insomniacs, whether they know it or not. It isn’t always their fault, however. Society places such an importance on jobs, grades, chores, sports teams, and, of course, social life, that sleep just doesn’t fit in the schedule. At a time in their lives when self-esteem truly becomes an issue, and anxiety and stress are part of the daily routine, how can teenagers’ expect to get to sleep? But when combined with the fact that no age group needs as much sleep as teenagers do except infants, the issue becomes apparent: there is a silent sleep epidemic, and it is adversely affecting every teen.
When surveyed, teenagers revealed that they knew there was a problem but said that they do not have any way of fixing it. When posed three questions, “As a teenager, do you feel you are getting enough sleep?”, “Do you think if you tried you could get enough sleep,” and “Do you feel that parents and teachers are understanding about sleep issues,” the answers were depressing. For the first question, one teenage girl responded with a series of “No, no no no no!” Another teenager could not answer properly because she was laughing too much. All she could say was, “Are you serious?” A third responded with “Well, maybe, sometimes… occasionally,” and a fourth said “When is there time?” So the answer to the second question is obvious: no. The teenagers surveyed replied that they were already trying. And as for the third question, things got pretty cynical. It became apparent that parents do not understand what is going on in their children’s lives and cannot make accurate decisions and demands. Teachers assign too much homework, even if it is necessary. They forget that their students have other homework to do, have jobs, social lives, extracurricular activities, and their own hobbies to take care of. Pressure from parents and teachers alike drives students to push back their bedtimes later and later until such ridiculous hours as “around dawn”, as one surveyed teen stated. Another girl said, “Maybe (they understand) when it’s their own (sleep issues).” And some teachers say that schoolwork should be the most important thing in a student’s life. While this is true in most cases, it does not mean that students should abandon the rest of their lives until graduation. Social interaction is necessary for mental health and building skills to last the rest of their lives.
What does the lack of enough sleep do to teenagers? It can cause quite a few problems many don’t realize exist. All teens know is that they are tired. While this is the most obvious symptom of sleep deprivation, it is not the worst. And it cannot easily be cured. One symptom would be memory loss. Students cannot remember as much as they would if they had gotten enough sleep, which leads to bad decisions, poor grades on standardized tests, and can lead to serious problems with family and friends. Although, their friends may be suffering as well, so no one would notice, but this only serves to prove the point that sleep deprivation is a problem. Another symptom of sleep deprivation is depression. When we sleep, our brains produce the chemicals necessary for mental development and physical well-being. When sleep is disturbed, the chemical balance is disturbed, possibly causing health problems and, most notably, depression. The teenage depression epidemic and the sleep epidemic go hand-in-hand. But prescription sleep aids can cause long-term problems such as dependency, lack in important REM sleep, and cost issues. The only real way to cure sleep deprivation is simply to sleep with a fixed but slightly flexible sleep pattern, which includes listening to the body- it knows when it needs to sleep. But can teenagers always sleep when they want to? No. And that is the problem.
But it is not a problem that can be easily solved. One of the most popular, albeit unused, plans for getting enough sleep would be to change the hours that school starts and ends. The public school system in Minneapolis tried this with mixed results. On the positive side, student performance rates went up, attitudes were better, and the teens were generally happier. The downside, though, was that teens had less time for extracurricular activities, so attendance to after-school clubs dropped dramatically. Some sports teams changed practices to the morning, defeating the purpose of later sessions for more schools. The children in elementary schools were often late, had no buses for field trips, and had compromised safety because the teenagers were not around after school to watch them. Also, teens had less time for part-time jobs, which hurt the Minneapolis economy. Some teenagers had these jobs to support the family income and their quitting or working fewer hours hurt their families. So while the students were performing well and were much healthier, society could not adapt to the change in routine and everything collapsed. This proves how society has been programmed to put pressure on teenagers and cannot cope when teenagers’ physical health and emotional well-being are put first. The problem, then, is society. This cannot be fixed overnight. Pills are only temporary and mask the real problem: teenagers can’t afford to sleep.
What can be done to solve this problem? Unfortunately the answer seems to be “nothing.” Teenagers need to do their homework, but they need sleep. Homework comes first. Jobs come first, friends come first, everything comes first. No one can call teenagers selfish after seeing how much damage is being done to them even when they perform the bare minimum of work society expects them to do. Teenagers did benefit greatly from later school starting times- attendance rates went up, reaction time quickened, memory improved, etc. But everything else just could not deal with teenagers being a little selfish for their own good, and thusly the sleep epidemic will continue, poorly documented and largely ignored, unless, of course, society makes a major change. It may sound cynical, but, as said in the above survey, “that just won’t happen.”
-@12:22 AM
no subject
no subject
And thanks again :)
Ivyette
no subject
I'm sleepy now but I won't be able to crawl into my bed until about 12:00 tonight :\
Come as you are.
*lends you a comb*
Love, luck, and lollipops
Re: Come as you are.
Re: Come as you are.
*squeezes back*
<33 Ivyette
Re: Come as you are.
Are you trying to tell me something?
Re: Come as you are.
Re: Come as you are.
Ivyette <333333333333
Re: Come as you are.
Ivyette :)
Re: Come as you are.
Ivyette <333333333333333333333
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Ivyette
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Ivyette
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