Students and Sleep Deprivation
Students can be affected by sleep disruptions, which can be as a result of a number of factors such as school work or stress related issues. Most students have issues with sleep in their high school years, which unfortunately, some end up taking them with to college.
In the States, adults sleep an average of only 6.9 hours, based on statistics that were done in 2002. On top of that, an alarming 35% reported that they have sleeping problems every night.
We have all had a night where we didn’t sleep well, and from experience we all know that it is not a nice thing. Your body struggles to cope throughout the day after a sleepless night, because the tiredness catches up with you. With some students their poor performance can be linked to the fact that they are not sleeping properly.
Teenagers have also been shown to be affected by sleep as a result of the hormonal changes that they go through as well as the schedules at school. The adolescent stage can wreck havoc in a lot of teenagers’ lives, and it affects their sleep patterns as well. Their lifestyles at this stage can also play a role, with all the partying that can take place.
Teens also sleep later and longer than their parents, and despite sleeping late they are still expected to wake up early so they make it to school on time. With not having enough sleep, teens may end up not performing like they should in school and they might also have emotional or behavior problems that may be a direct result of the fact that they did not sleep enough.
Some schools have acknowledged the effect of lack of sleep on the students and have introduced times where classes start late to combat the fact that teens sleep late, and as a result the teens are less likely to be falling asleep when they should be concentrating on what the teacher is saying.
College students are also not a stranger to sleep deprivation. This is because of all the parties that take place, the freedom to socialize and go wherever they want to go as well as study sessions that happen throughout the night.
Most of them have had to employ the help of coffee and energy drinks to keep awake, and all these just add effect on the sleep patterns of the students.
Here are some tips that students can use to sleep better without compromising their lifestyles:
- Refrain from mixing sleep, alcohol and the amount of caffeine that they consume

- Parties that happen all night should be avoided, or at least brought to a minimum
- If possible at all, the classes that occur too early or to late should be avoided or kept at a minimum
- Try to maintain a proper sleeping pattern that your body will be comfortable with and get used to
Do what you can to allow your body to sleep better before sleep messes up your academics.






