Sleep Deprivation May Be Undermining Teen Health

The problem is clear. Teens are sleep deprived and it’s showing in their academic abilities, attitudes, and health. In order to solve this problem the students have to express their opinions and the school board has to listen. If high school students take surveys that ask about their personal health, then the question of how much sleep they receive and how many energy drinks they consume will be answered. Once those answers are generalized they can be presented to the school board which will allow them to get a glimpse inside the lives of high school students. The school board understands how it feels to lack a full night’s rest, so they will be sympathetic towards the subject. However, providing a solution to the matter will be difficult because

Teens don’t get enough sleep and it’s impacting them majorly and negatively. It affects students at school by causing them to be agitated instead of patient, irritated instead of social, and tired instead of focused. In the article, “Sleep Deprivation May Be Undermining Teen Health,” by Siri Carpenter she claims that, “Compared with students whose schools maintained earlier start times, students with later starts reported getting more sleep on school nights, being less sleepy during the day, getting slightly higher grades and experiencing fewer depressive feelings and thoughts.” If all schools started at later times then students will be more focused; thus, students will have better grades and they will feel more confident in themselves which will prevent them from having self-deteriorating thoughts. The main reason why high school students are always so tired is because most of the classes include hours of homework each night. With all the hours of homework combined add in the time for: sports practice, work, taking care of pets, chores, and personal health care. Some may say that teens need this type of treatment because it prepares them for what the real world is like, but that is like saying to the parent of a two year old not to let their child nap because they won’t be ready for kindergarten. In addition to the topic of student's’ health obesity in kids is becoming more common. There are many things that cause obesity in children, but lacking sleep is one of the major and sneakiest causes for obesity. For high school students this is a red flag. Not only are they lacking the sleep they need, but in replacement of the lost sleep they are consuming gallons of energy drinks to keep them alert, which is increasing their risk for diabetes. So essentially, we’ve got an entire population of tired but wired youth. In the article, “The Resulting Benefits,” by Mark Bittman he states that, “A 20 percent increase in the price of sugary drinks