A very pressing concern for adolescent students today is their academic performance. One of the factors that may contribute or oppose adequate academic average is the amount of sleep a student receives every night. Based on the secondary research that has been gathered, a statement can be made that sleep deprivation can negatively affect a student’s academic performance learning capacity. Sleep deprivation is fast-becoming the norm in society and can be influenced by things such as extremely busy schedules and sleep disorders. The cognitive function of the brain can work against a good night’s sleep. The amount of hours of sleep a teenager needs is also paramount. This study intends to investigate on the reasons for sleep deprivation and the potential consequences that result from a poor amount of Z’s.
Today, the amount of sleep a teenager receives is generally lower that the recommendation. In fact, approximately eighty-five percent of American students are mildly sleep deprived, and ten to forty percent may be significantly sleep deprived (Dahl & Lewin, 2002).
On average, a teenager receives approximately seven hours of sleep on weekdays (Epstein, 2007).
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According to a study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, adolescents should get nine hours of sleep for adequate cognitive function (Curcio, Ferrara, & Gennaro, 2006).
Adolescents most often get less sleep on the weekdays and sleep in copious amounts on the weekends (Ibid).
Another study that was conducted by Fred Danner, PhD focused on 882 freshman high school students and their sleep habits. The results revealed that on average, a student would get 7.6 hours per school night and 40 percent were getting less than 8 hours (McCann, 2008).
Based on these facts, it can be said that adolescents in general are not receiving an appropriate amount of sleep on school nights.
So why exactly are students not getting enough sleep? For many reasons, including less parental supervision and oversight and overload of homework and projects. Adolescents can really feel the academic overload because of the fact that post secondary education is fast approaching within the coming years. But the homework and studying can be delayed due to other commitments other that school work such as sports, clubs, part time jobs, and social distractions (McCann, 2008).
Due to their other commitments, sleep can become less and less important as the activities latch on. In today’s society, we are constantly being surrounded by opportunities like sports, hanging out with friends, and Grand Theft Auto V. It is these factors that generate a disregard for the importance of a night’s rest.
The biology of human sleep timing, changes as people get older, but when in the uberty stages of life, our body’s internal clocks are shifted (Foster & Russell, 2013).
When in the stages of puberty, the individual has a hard time falling asleep after 11 o’clock, and this trend continues to the age of nineteen for women and the age of twenty one for men (Dahl & Lewin, 2002).
Given the fact that a majority of secondary institutions ring the bells by 8:00 am, students would not be getting enough sleep the night before class. In individuals, studies have shown that neural systems in the prefrontal cortex of the brain that are involved in our primary cognitive functions are most vulnerable when it comes to sleep deprivation (Curcio et al., 2006).
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As a direct result, most neurological functions are left impaired by sleep loss (Ibid).
If not given the proper amount of rest, the body can work against itself in the process of life. The studies that were conducted just show how important sleep serves as food for the brain.
As with all of the basic necessities in life, there are consequences when they are not followed through with. Sleep in particular has many consequences if not followed through. Sleep deprived students tend to be more restless, impulsive and more irritable than other students (Dahl & Lewin, 2002).
Sleep also has a decisive role in learning and cognitive memory processes (Epstein, 2007).
For people in general, in order to stay alert and attentive in the classroom, your brain must get the rest that it requires in the night time. The consequence that may potentially generate the most impact in an adolescent’s life is academic achievement. Studies have shown teenagers that consistently get nine hours of sleep per night have a higher grade point average than those who get less than eight per night (Foster & Russell, 2013).
Other research has also concluded that sleep plays a critical role in memory retention and our ability to find solutions to innovative and complex problems (McCann, 2008).
Dr. Danner from the University of Kentucky commented on the results of his experiment of the effect of sleep deprivation on academic performance, “The results are consistent with a growing body of research that many adolescents do not get sufficient sleep and that even mild chronic sleep deprivation has serious effects on their psychological functioning” (Ibid).
It is no wonder that those who sleep in class tend not to do well on the unit test.
Although there are external factors such as extra-curriculars and part time jobs that take up an adolescent’s time, there are internal factors that turn gears as well. Sleep disorders can be a problem for adolescents in high school. Insomnia is one of them. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that can be characterized as difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep (WebMD, 2005).
A cause of insomnia can be significant life stress (Ibid).
An example of stress in an adolescent’s life could be his/her academic success. Given the fact that a student could be pursuing post secondary education could put stress on their mind. They could be stressing over their potential academic average and worrying about the admission average for their program. Sleep disorders is a potential problem for students and can be rather difficult to prevent.
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This study seeks to investigate in a more in-depth look of the following question, “Is there a correlation between sleep deprivation and academic success?” By means of a survey handed out to a sample group of students at Regina Mundi Catholic College, this study seeks to answer that question with clarity. A series of questions that cover their academic success, the amount of sleep they get, and their activities outside school will be quantified for the sample group of students. A control group of students that do not receive an adequate amount of sleep will be compared to students that do receive an adequate amount of sleep. The purpose of this is to find the answer to if more Z’s equals more A’s.
