How Are Early School Start Times Effecting Our Bodies | Teen Ink

How Are Early School Start Times Effecting Our Bodies

October 5, 2016
By MazvitaN BRONZE, Indianapolis, Indiana
MazvitaN BRONZE, Indianapolis, Indiana
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

 Effects of Early School Times
   “15 percent reported sleeping 8 ½ hours on school nights”(“Teens and Sleep - National Sleep Foundation”). Many teens come to school sleep deprived,and are not fully wake threw classes. Many teens have irregular sleep patterns, because they tend to go to sleep late during the week and sleep in on the weekend. Teens do not know how much their lack of sleep is affecting their caffeine intake, attention span, mental health, and their immune system.
Caffeine Intake                                                    
Imagine sitting in class yawning the whole time,because you were up
doing homework and had to get up early for school. Many teens come to school tired and try to fight their way through the day. This is how they result drinking the wrong things for energy. “Branum’s team estimated that 73 percent of American children consume some level of caffeine each day”.(Branum, Rossen, and Schoendorf) Drinking caffeine can increase blood pressure, and cause stomach irritation. Many teens have to result in drinking caffeine in the morning, to help wake them up which can lead to addiction.
Attention Span
  Ever come to school, and have a hard time concentrating on what's happening? Many teens come to school sleep deprived. When teens are sleep deprived they have a harder time concentrating. Sleep deprivation can cause memory problems,yawning, and hallucinations. Coming to school sleep deprived can affect your attention span, and can eventually lead to poor performance in school.
Mental Health
  Ever wonder why some people are just in a bad mood? Sleep deprivation can change the way you feel . Losing sleep can lead to moodiness,and mental illnesses like depression. Loss of sleep can also increase anxiety. Not getting enough sleep can be a big cause of moodiness threw out the school day.
Immune System
   Imagine waking up to a fever once again. Sleep deprivation can weaken the immune system. This may affect your bodies ability to fight colds,infections, and the flu. With a weakened immune system it makes it harder to come to school, because your body will have a harder time fighting infections. Early School start times are a key factor of why teens don't get enough sleep. Resulting in more sick days out of school, because of a weakened immune system.
Solutions to Early Start Times
   Overall sleep deprivation has a huge effect on our academic progress, health, and our sleeping patterns. Although Pushing back school start times will cost districts money. It may change the way we come to school,and our academic performance in classes. As of the future we will still have a sleep deprived society until schools will take a stand!

 

 

 

 

 


Branum, A. M., L. M. Rossen, and K. C. Schoendorf. “Trends in Caffeine Intake Among US Children and Adolescents.” Pediatrics 133.3 (2014): 386–393. Print.
“Teens and Sleep - National Sleep Foundation.” N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.



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