Spatz 1

Gracee Spatz

ENG 1201

Prof. Reynolds

March 18th, 2022

Are Students and Adolescents Affected by How Much Sleep They Get?

Let’s be honest, we all could do a better job of getting more sleep. Sleep is not only

essential in adults but it is crucial in adolescence. It has been known that teenagers become

cranky with a lack of sleep but can this deprivation actually profoundly affect their physical and

mental health?

To start, sleep deprivation causes insulin resistance, risk of obesity, and cognitive defects

(Learning After Sleep Loss). If the body cannot slow down during sleep and digest to produce

hormones to break down food then the teen's risk of obesity is major. Also, sleep insomnia is

related to greater frustration and sadness when going about the student's day (Temperament,

Sleep Quality, and Insomnia). This frustration that comes from a lack of sleep will carry over to

students’ work and could potentially set the student back on their course work. Sleep loss also

alters emotional regulation (Total Sleep Deprivation). Since when adolescents do not sleep they

do not have a chance of producing hormones to control their emotions, which causes them to

become irritable. Sleep-deprived teenagers have been known to have a decrease in alertness,

altered moods, and degraded task performance (Total Sleep Deprivation). When the performance

of tasks starts to diminish, adolescents will start to not remember things, like where they put their

keys or textbooks. This loss of memory could eventually carry over into their studies.
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Sleep provides teenagers with plenty of benefits, whereas a lack of sleep gives teenagers

numerous risks. Adolescents who on average get less than 8 hours of sleep are more likely to

abuse drugs and alcohol. The fact that one factor to prevent teens from addiction is sleep is

life-changing. Also, teenagers are less likely to get into a car crash with good amounts of sleep.

Preventing crashes not only saves lives but saves the city and parents money. To continue, the

chance of teenagers getting depression is increased with a lack of sleep. When teenagers can’t

sleep their brain cannot perform its normal functions and will fail to convert day memories into

long-lasting ones. Over half of teenagers feel hopeless when they experience a lack of sleep.

(Sleepy Teenage Brains…). To add on, sleep loss affects learning impairment. If teenagers

cannot process what they learned in school due to only 4 hours of sleep then learning and

studying will be a challenge for them (Learning After Sleep Loss).

Though there are numerous negative effects of sleep loss, there are also positive

outcomes too. Sleep deprivation can activate metabolic genes which control the body’s weight.

(Learning After Sleep Loss). Also, caffeine was proven to increase attention and focus, so many

teenagers don’t need sleep, they need caffeine (Caffeine Improves Cognitive Performance).

However, are these positives enough to outweigh the drawbacks of a lack of sleep in

adolescence?

More sleep means greater cognitive performance in young adults. Sleep has been proven

to improve academic performance, decrease the rate of car crashes and increase positive mental

health in teenagers. Sleep plays a very important role in the physical and mental health of

adolescents, so the next time you go to bed, make sure you are getting enough sleep.
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