What’s behind all the ‘ZZZZZZ’s? Studies show that sleep is just as crucial as food and water. Benefiting both our immune and nervous system, it also plays a positive role in concentration, emotion, and memory.
Sleep: a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended. An average person gets about seven to eight hours of sleep every night. In order for those couple of hours to be good, healthy hours, many variables are taken into consideration. Some of them include: lighting, medication, jet lag, discomfort, and anxiety. "While many people use electronic media, such as the Internet, it should be noted that the longer media use before sleep can trigger (self-perceived) insufficient sleep," stated lead researcher Dr. Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, located in Japan. After conducting a experiment from several thousands of students, large percentages of students said that being exposed to the computer and/or television, resulted in lower sleep quality and possibly even sleep problems. With higher technology, neuroscientists have found ways to test sleeping patterns. The better reactions people got, they also performed better the following day.
Most people think that getting seven and a half hours of sleep is the best time for them. However, we thought it could differ between different grades. As you get older, you have more and more things to get done, which takes away sleep time for you. To see if our theory was true, we interviewed 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. We asked 6th graders how many hours of sleep they got, and it ranged from six to ten hours, leaning on the upper side. When asked, How often do you remember your dreams? Out of the 25 students in Mr. Wilsie’s Orange Hall 6th grade class, 17 remembered them. However, seventh and eighth graders barely did. On a scale of one to ten, how well do you sleep? Mr. Wilsie’s 6th grade class most said eight to ten, with the occasional five and six. To our surprise, four out of the five 7th graders gave us a 10, and the other one rated it a nine. Students of all grades are exposed to either the computer or television before heading to bed.Sleeping pills in students age 11 to 14 are also not very common. 20% of the 25 sixth graders that were interviewed claimed to have taken a pill to get to sleep even once in their lives.
Considering all this, is the sleep deprivation of middle school students truly healthy? Many students just at Stoller get assigned so much homework that it is impossible for them to get it done and get 9 hours of sleep after extra curricular activities.
A rare syndrome developed by teenagers across the country is sleeping beauty syndrome. It causes them to sleep for weeks and sometimes months at one time. They can not be woken. No medicine is found yet to cure this terrible disease. Doctors conclude that it is risky because of the lack of food for a long period of time and can cause them to die of starvation.
Lack of sleep can lead to serious problems in the future for this generation. It can cause stress, depression, and other side effects. Studies show that children in this age group get 25% less sleep than the average citizen. Without sleep you can stunt your growth and not achieve your full potential in school, athletics, or in life. Overall, sleep is very important component to your daily lifestyle.
By: Jenny N. and Debi L.
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