Sleeping kids and lowered lids:

A glance inside teen sleep deprivation

By Lindsey
May 25th, 2018

Lack of concentration, behavioral issues, mental diseases, difficulty with academic

orientation, car accidents, suicidal ideation.

Over 90% of teens are affected by sleep deprivation across the United States. We urge
people of all ages, all around the country to see that the only way to slow this meteorically
increasing trend of sleep deprivation is to raise awareness about the importance of sleep in
growing teens as well as increase public health efforts vastly. Evidently, teens can’t do it on
their own. Can we expect this teenage generation to mold the future if they can’t even mold
their mental health?

To help dwindle the effects and frequency of sleep deprivation, we have to start with
the causes of this detrimental epidemic, these mainly being biology, homework, and
technology. Speaking biologically, for teenagers, falling asleep prior to 11:00 is an unnatural
strain, this being thanks to the fact that teens don’t reach a critical level of sleepiness until a
later time at night (as said by Dr. Daniel Buysse, professor of sleep medicine at the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center). Already, a teens’ body is fighting against its need to sleep, and
homework doesn’t help. On average, students ages 13-18 spend more than 17 hours on
homework each week. Adding this on to other daily priorities such as sports, hobbies, social
events, free time, and other activities doesn’t leave a lot of time for sleep. As if this wasn’t
enough to stunt sleep quantity and quality in 21st century teens, the growing popularity of
electronics is also a major factor that contributes to this lack of sleep. The distraction of texting
gossip and social media isn’t the downside of technology when it comes to sleep. It is blue light.
Blue light is a light emitted off electronics that have a certain frequency so when it hits
receptors in your eye, it sends a message to your brain. In fact, according to Dr. Van Gilder, a
pediatrician, “those receptors send a signal to the brain which suppresses the production of
melatonin and keeps kids from feeling tired.” Melatonin, the sleep hormone, is crucial for
anyone to fall asleep, and blue light only incapacitates the production of it. Between biology,
homework, and technology, sleep often gets pushed to the side as it is not a priority for the
majority of teens.

The detrimental effects of this issue are wide spread, as each of the prime causes of
sleep deprivation spawn a chain of deleterious effects for teens. Sleep deprivation is actually
correlated more to behavioral health issues than most believe. The National Sleep Foundation
of America agrees that "you may feel moody and perform poorly. Sleepiness can make it hard
to get along with your family and friends, and hurt your scores on school exams, on the court,
or on the field." It also can cause you to forget important information such as names, numbers,
homework, or even events like a date with a partner or a birthday celebration. Along with
behavioral problems, mental diseases are directly related to sleep deprivation. According to a
published study led by Caris T. Fitzgerald, M.D., professor of Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine at
the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, "Depression, bipolar disorder, conduct
disorder, and substance abuse. Each of these, with the possible exception of conduct disorder,
is strongly associated with sleep disruption." This same study hones in on the likelihood of
suicidal ideation. In fact, it states that teens with a bedtime of midnight or later are 24% more
likely to suffer from depression and 20% more likely to have suicidal ideation. It also shows that
teens who sleep less than five hours or over ten hours (too little sleep and excessive sleep) are
at much higher risk for suicide in comparison to teens who sleep 8 or 9 hours. As you can see,
lack of sleep undeniably hurts teens to an unacceptable extent, and lead to issues that could be
prevented. Not only is this a personal issue, but your sleep deprived self can become hostile to
others. We have known for awhile that the leading cause of teen mortality is car accidents, but
what we are only beginning to understand is that sleep deprivation is akin to intoxication when
driving, intoxication being one of the top reasons for car accidents. Drowsiness and falling
asleep at the wheel causes over 100,000 car crashes every year, according to the National Sleep
Foundation. When asked whether they ever drive being “so tired they can’t keep their eyes
open,” licensed teens age 16-18 responded with a recorded 25% driving in this condition over
three times and 2% driving in this condition daily and regularly. While these numbers may seem
like a non important minority, imagine driving in your car and having every 50 cars you pass,
one teenage driver being about to fall asleep. This isn’t to mention how many adults on the
road are also in this state. Between behavioral issues, mental diseases, difficulty with academic
orientations, car accidents, and suicidal fecundity, it becomes clear how far the effects of sleep
deprivation go.

The real question comes in the solution. When it comes to improving sleep hygiene, the
main solutions come in preventative measures. One answer to the sleep deprivation epidemic
is leaving beds for sleep. Oftentimes, teens find themselves doing their homework, watching
TV, eating, texting, and hanging out in there bed. However, according to Dr. M. Safwan Badr,
M.D., president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, by leaving the bed for sleep and
sex, you can improve your quality and quantity of sleep dramatically. As well as being selective
on what is done in bed, parents can help their kids lack of sleep by reducing light, noise, and
extreme temperatures. As said by Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., a Clinical Psychologist, diplomate of
the American Board of Sleep Medicine, and fellow at The American Academy of Sleep Medicine,
even the most negligible midnight noises and lights can disrupt good sleep nature. Another big
help to preventing sleep deprivation in teens is avoiding naps. Those teens fortunate enough to
be able to fit in a nap after school may be hurting there sleep more than most think. According
to the National Sleep Foundation, “It's important not to nap late in the day because this can
make it hard to fall asleep at night. Even a short nap in the early evening can interfere with
bedtime.” These three minimal but effective obstructing measures may work on their own,
however it is also important to avoid exercise before bed. Many teens vigorously work out in
sports and activities until times as late as 9:00 every night. WebMD states that in doing this, it
“raises your core body temperature, increases your heart rate and prompts your system to
release stimulating epinephrine (adrenaline).” In trying out each of these preventative
measures, we can increase sleep for teens.

More public health endeavours need to take place if we’re going to resolve the
monumental condition we call sleep deprivation. The causes for these sleep deprived teens
range from biology to technology all the way to homework. These causes each have reactions
that comprise mood and behavioral Issues, mental diseases, car accidents, and suicidal
ideation. By acknowledging how extensive these effects are, we can better impart solutions
upon teens, these including different kinds of abstainable measures as well as ways to prepare
themselves for sleep. If we increase the amount of sleep teens are getting now, cancer, heart,
and high blood pressure instances will go down, less people will be sick, kids will do better in
school, creativity and inventions will be at an all time high, there will be less car accidents, and
quality of life will go up. With only 7.6% of teens getting adequate sleep, this recurrently
overlooked issue needs to be brought to the forefront of our communities conversation, or else
it will continue to negatively affect teens now, and increasingly in generations to come.