Why Are Students Failing to Sleep Early? Exploring the Causes, Risks, and Solutions

First let’s discuss why students are failing to sleep early?

Now-a-days more teens are living with mild to severe sleep deprivation. Experts suggest that teens need more than nine hours of sleep a night to stay healthy. But more than a third of teens get only five to six hours of sleep a night. Biology, screen time, and unrealistic expectations are the main reasons teen sex doesn’t go away.

Teens experience sleep deprivation primarily due to the amount of time they spend on screens. The light emitted by the screen prevents their brains from producing melatonin, the hormone responsible for sleep. Balancing computer tasks for homework and phone interactions results in a significant amount of screen usage.

Next, there is the worry of children who strive for perfection in their academics. Some groups of high-achieving friends engage in a competitive practice of staying up all night to study.

Causes for inadequate sleep

1. Alcohol: Approximately 12 percent of students who consume alcohol admit that it helps to get sleep. It assists in falling asleep but it interrupts the rest of the rest period. It can also lead to obstructive sleep apnea which is a type of sleep disorder.
2. Caffeine and Energy Drinks: The impacts produced by caffeine are known to last beyond seven hours hindering one’s ability to fall asleep and sleep. They are common in several products; beverages such as coffee, tea, energy drinks and soft drinks. The main ingredient in energy drinks is caffeine. According to the National Institutes of Health, energy drink use “escalates the uptake of alcohol and possibly other drugs such as stimulants.”
3. Technology: Some research works indicated that taking the cell phone into the bedroom will result in daytime sleepiness, poor sleep quality, and difficulty falling and staying asleep. Computer usage before bed will link to drowsy driving and less restful sleep. Playing video games makes one fall asleep harder. The noise alone isn’t the problem; it means the light from electronic gadgets will lessen melatonin production that helps you sleep naturally.
4. Stress: The majority of students at the college level are under stress from issues that are mainly based on academics, social life as well as for balancing college, work, and personal life.
5. Poor sleep environment: One’s sleep becomes easily compromised if the bedroom environment is combined with one or all of the following traits; a noisy environment, hot environment or cold environment.

Yes it is dangerous in coming days. Effects on teenagers when they do not get enough sleep?

1. Misconduct: Just like yelling at friends and being impatient with family members, teens who lack adequate rest are normally associated with bad behaviour. Always being sleep deprived causes annoyance and disruption of mental and physical reflexes.
2. Poor grades: Teenagers have poor learning abilities, listening skills, concentration levels and problem-solving capabilities due to inadequate sleep. They may forget important details like names, numbers and homework assignments if they are constantly experiencing insufficient sleep.
3. Gaining Weight: When their homework is done late at night or they play games using their phones until night these teenagers eat unhealthy snacks. This also results in weight gain.
4. More Illness: The immune system of a teenager is affected by its amount of sleep deprivation hence; it leads to more diseases such as common colds, flus, allergies, rashes among others.
5. Mental Health Problems: According to Journal of Youth and Adolescence 2015, losing an hour of sleep raises one’s chances of feeling sad/hopeless by 38% and increasing attempts of suicide by 58%.
6. Injury Risk : If we don’t get enough rest we become prone to injuries because it reduces concentration hence delayed response/impaired decision making leading to poor coordination.
7. Pimples: Teens are more likely to acquire pimples if they fail to sleep enough.

Few tips to get rid of late sleep

• Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine before going to bed.
• Avoid Blue-Light Screens like phone, laptop, TV. Blue light has one of the most potent effects on your sleep cycle. Scrolling through social media or watching a TV show in bed to relax may adversely affect your sleep.
• Exercise during the day will help you to get better sleep.
• Keep your room dark with slightly cool temperatures. Eliminate all the noise to avoid distraction.
• Avoid sleeping during daylight hours.
• Try to follow the bedtime schedule and make sure that you follow it on weekends also.
• Meditating might help you fall asleep if anxiety is keeping you awake.
• Try to relax your body with some calming activities like reading book, taking shower, listening soothing music.
• Taking a good quality diet with lots of protein and fruit.

NOTE: According to the National Sleep Foundation, teenagers should get 8-10 hours of sleep per day. This is important for various reasons including their overall health status, academic performance as well as mental health condition. Getting enough sleep is vital for teens as it promotes growth and development, strengthens the immune system; helps them stay in good moods and concentrate better. If teenagers have enough time to sleep they end up getting higher grades in school because they are more attentive to details than others and most importantly reduces chances of mental conditions like depression and anxiety. Also, quality sleep is responsible for hormone balance and weight management.

In conclusion, lack of sleep can affect your immune system. It will also affect your mental and physical health. Without quality sleep there is risk of getting diseases like heart disease, diabetes, increase in blood pressure and many more. Follow the above mentioned tips to get a sound sleep.