<![CDATA[The Paw Print]]> <![CDATA[The Paw Print]]> /Portals/2/logos/cropped-09331172-1dec-4df2-9be4-e518339c604e-websitelogo copy copy.png en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Thu, 23 May 2013 13:58:06 GMT 15 <![CDATA[Lack of sleep detrimental to students’ daily lives]]> By Chris Bucon

Chris Bucon
Students who that fall asleep in class cannot pay attention to all the visual information that teachers assist. Students who fall asleep in class have a higher tendency of lower grades.

Every function of the human body constantly exhibits changes that affect the way we live, and without enough of sleep, the body goes though devastating internal effects. According to MedicalNewsToday.com, sleep deprivation causes high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. It also affects the immune system because good sleep helps the system work correctly. Long term sleep loss could create unhealthy risk for immune system. According to KidsHealth.org, lack of sleep causes problems in areas other than the body systems. Some examples include psychological problems such as sadness and depression. “I think the less you sleep, the more emotionally unstable you become. If you’re stressed out, and have minimal sleep, the stress will get worse and worse,” said junior Audrey Cooney. Other than the body going through devastating effects, the person’s surroundings suffer the consequences. The 2006 poll of the National Sleep Foundation found more than one quarter of high school students fall asleep in class, and experts have been able to tie lost sleep to poor grades. Kaylie Milashoski, freshman, said, “They are missing out on the knowledge they should be gaining,” as her reason for students getting poor grades due to sleeping in class. Students are not just sleeping in school, but dozing off behind the wheel of the car. “I have felt tired while driving once and I was kind of scared. I had to try harder to focus,” said senior Amber Cavazos. More than 100,000 accidents, 40,000 injuries, and 1,500 people are killed every year due to fatigued drivers according to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration. “I do not think they [drivers] should drive while being tired, because I believe it does affect the way you drive. Plus there is always the risk of falling asleep while driving,” said Cavazos. The National Sleep Foundation says teenagers need to sleep around 8.5-9.25 hours of sleep and adults need 7-9 hours. Out of 250 students polled, only 31 percent met the healthy sleeping requierments. That number is unacceptable for the body to maintain a healthy sleep. Sometimes people do not receive much sleep due to poor judgments or hyper activity, but the teenagers actually have an excuse for being tired. The body of a teenager has circadian rhythm (an internal biological clock) which tells a person to fall asleep later and wake up later, according to KidsHealth.org. This is caused by Melatonin (brain hormone) which is produced at night. Given the negative consequences of lack of sleep has on the body, a person can prevent it by doing things to better their sleep. To offset this age dilemma, teenagers can set a regular bedtime, exercise daily, avoid caffeine, relax the mind, avoiding napping, and all-nighters. In the end, when the body feels exhausted, it is sending signals to start a healthy sleeping pattern. ]]> Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:29:36 GMT