Sleep Wars:

How High School Students are Sacrificing Sleep and Possible Solutions for
Getting More Sleep

Micah Soga
Expository Writing 2
Sheila Yuasa

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Introduction

Wake up at 6. Drag through a tough day of school. Club Meetings for an hour. Practice for
another 2. Get home, shower, eat, and then 3 or more hours of studying, and then its 1 am. Its
a typical day for a high school students. Experts say that Teens need to get anywhere between 9
and 10 hours of sleep(Lahey). But according to WebMD, more than 90% of teens get fewer
than 9 hours of sleep on a regular school night(WebMD). Common sense seems to dictate that
losing a few hours of sleep here and there is ok, especially with many high school students
balancing extra-curricular activities, college applications, and possibly a lot of other things. So
how can students possibly try to get that large amount of sleep, while still maintaining their
studies and all the other things they do? Because getting sufficient amounts of sleep is such a
large problem for High School students, I have researched different ways for High School
Students to possibly get more sleep during the school week.

Background: Why Sleep Deprivation is Bad

The standard way of thinking about high school students losing sleep has it that losing a
couple hours of sleep a night is quite alright. Only recently, studies have shown that losing sleep
can have major health effects. This deprivation of sleep also causes 25% of students reporting
falling asleep in class at least once a week(Park). Furthermore, being sleep deprived limits the

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ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems. Students might even forget important
information like names, numbers, their homework or a date with a special person in their
life(National). Chronic sleep loss can contribute to health problems such as weight gain, high
blood pressure, and a decrease in the immune systems power(Harvard). It can also cause things
like Obstructive sleep apnea which occurs when the tissue in the back of the throat collapses
during sleep, keeping air from getting in to the lungs. These pauses in breathing briefly wake you
up and disturb your sleep and can cause you to be very tired the next day. Or like Narcolepsy, a
sleep disorder that causes people to feel severely tired during the day. They may fall asleep
suddenly at any time or place. These "sleep attacks" can occur while eating, walking or
driving(UCLA).

Possible Solutions

Watch actions before sleeping.

After 10:00 PM, Dont Drink Coffee/Soda/Sugary Drinks, Eat Chocolate/Sugary Foods, Take a
nap, or Exercise. A couple of these might be obvious explanations but theyre all for good
reason: There is no substitute for sleep besides sleep itself. No pills, vitamins or drinks can
replace good sleep(National). Naps are not necessarily a bad thing, because they can be effective
when used at the correct time, but can be fatal if too close to bedtime(Lenhart). WebMD says

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that Prime napping time falls in the middle of the day, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and that the
optimal time for a nap is 30 minutes. All the foods/drinks that are listed are there because they
would make it hard to sleep, or to get a good nights sleep; like coffee and
chocolate(National). And, of course, exercising is not a good idea before bed because when the
heart is racing close to when trying to go to bed, it takes anywhere from 30 minutes-2 hours
more to fall asleep than it normally would(Harvard).

Stay off your phone while studying or while trying to sleep

There are a large amount of teens who, like myself, are constantly checking their phones,
scrolling through Facebook Timelines, Instagram and Twitter feeds, and watching their friends
100 second snapchat story. In fact, 73% of wired American teens now use social networking
websites, a significant increase from previous surveys. Just over half of online teens (55%) used
social networking sites in November 2006 and 65% did so in February 2008(Lenhart). That
survey was taken in 2010, so the percent of teens now using social media is estimated at around
80-90%(National).
This is a growing problem that can be solved by simply leaving your phone away from you when
you are studying or doing homework so that you wont be distracted by the constant need to

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check your phone. Therefore, homework that took you maybe 2 hours to do while constantly
checking your phone, will take you only 1 hour with your phone in another room.

Sleep early and wake up early

We all know a morning person. They are up at the crack of dawn and seem to have no
problem doing it. They are cheery in the morning while the rest of us late-risers are struggling to
get things together. But all of this is scientifically proven. In a Forbes.com article, Top 10
Advantages of waking up early, it says that people who are early-risers are Better Planners,
More Proactive, and More optimistic(Forbes). In a 2008 Texas University study, college
students who identified themselves as "morning people" earned a full point higher(3.5 v.s. 2.5)
on their GPAs than those who were "night owls" (Park). For this solution, I would propose
something like sleeping at 8, and waking up at 3 or 4 to finish homework-similar to the study
done by the National Sleep Foundation, which showed that kids who study late after a long day
of school (9pm-12am) had lower GPAs than those who slept early, woke up early, and studied
early in the morning(3am-6am)(National).

Plan of Action

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In order to accurately test if these possible solutions to the Sleep problem would work, I will
test each of these possible solutions for a full week during school, following the guidelines I
made in each solution. I will first start off with a control week where I will record how many
hours of sleep per night I get. Then I will try each of the three possible solutions and record the
amounts of sleep I get in the same way. At the end of the

4-week test, I will analyze the hours

of sleep I got

through the each of the four

weeks and

see which, if any of the

possible

solutions worked.

This graph

shows a

sample bar

graph of what my data

might look

like to further explain how

I will analyze

the data. For example,

because there was a significant increase in hours of sleep per

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night for Sleep Early..., I will consider that method to be successful. However, because there
wasnt a significant increase in hours of sleep per night for method Stay off Phone..., I will
consider that method unsuccessful. However, I will also keep a journal to record my

thoughts/feelings on which method worked and which didnt, so I will have quantitative and
qualitative data, and can use the qualitative data
Conclusion/Counter
Despite some saying that sleep should still be the last thing on the priority list of a High
School student, I maintain that it is very important for our health and well-being. Its important to
note that data indicates that high school students who get more sleep do better on almost
everything; SAT, ACT, GPA, and even sports. For the sake of bettering our educational system
for current and future generations, it is certainly worth the initial struggle and experimentation of
different possible solutions so that High Schoolers down the road will have a more positive
experience with regards to how much they sleep.

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Annotated Bibliography

Boyce, Nell, Susan Brink, and B. S. "The Secrets Of Sleep." U.S. News & World Report 136.17
(2004): 58. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
This site was very helpful in terms of how I could form possible solutions.

DiLonardo, Mary Jo. "Teen Sleep: Go to Bed! How to Get Teens to Get Enough Sleep."
WebMD. WebMD, 4 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
This site was a broad overview and good for general information.

Harvard. "New Releases." Importance of Sleep : Six Reasons Not to Scrimp on Sleep. Harvard,
n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
This resource was helpful in for the Background: why losing sleep is bad.

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Lahey, Jessica. "Students Aren't Getting Enough SleepSchool Starts Too Early." The Atlantic.
Atlantic Media Company, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
This source was interesting in that it suggested starting school later to improve students sleep

Lenhart, Amanda. "Social Media and Young Adults." Pew Research Centers Internet American
Life Project RSS. Pew, 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
This source was helpful in the social media-possible solution for getting facts
National Sleep Foundation. "Teens and Sleep." Sleep for Teenagers. National Sleep Foundation,
n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
This source was a broad overview but also offered some useful facts

Park, Alice, Alexandra Sifferlin, and Mandy Oaklander. "The Power Of Sleep." Time 184.11
(2014): 52. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
This source talked more about what happens when you dont sleep.

Reite M, Ruddy J, Nagel K. Concise guide to evaluation and management of sleep disorders (3rd
ed). American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2002
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This source was a guide of sleep disorders, most of which occur during sleep deprivation.

"Teens and Sleep." Sleep for Teenagers. National Sleep Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

This source was very specific about Teens, how much they should sleep and how teens can get
more sleep.

Works Cited
"ADOLESCENT SLEEP." ADOLESCENT SLEEP. Stanford University, 5 Oct. 1999. Web. 24
Nov. 2014.

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Boyce, Nell, Susan Brink, and B. S. "The Secrets Of Sleep." U.S. News & World Report 136.17
(2004): 58. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

DiLonardo, Mary Jo. "Teen Sleep: Go to Bed! How to Get Teens to Get Enough Sleep."
WebMD. WebMD, 4 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Harvard. "New Releases." Importance of Sleep : Six Reasons Not to Scrimp on Sleep. Harvard,
n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
HelpGuide. "How Much Sleep Do You Need?" Sleep Cycles and Stages, Lack of Sleep, and
How to Get the Hours You Need. HelpGuide.org, Nov. 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
Lahey, Jessica. "Students Aren't Getting Enough SleepSchool Starts Too Early." The Atlantic.
Atlantic Media Company, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
"Learning to stay awake." Mail on Sunday 05 Oct. 2014: 8. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 19
Nov. 2014.
Lenhart, Amanda. "Social Media and Young Adults." Pew Research Centers Internet American
Life Project RSS. Pew, 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
MAYO, KEENAN. "WHY ELITE ATHLETES, CEO's-EVEN ROCK STARS-ARE GOING
DEEP ON Sleep." Men's Fitness 30.5 (2014): 104-156. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web.
19 Nov. 2014.
National Sleep Foundation. "Teens and Sleep." Sleep for Teenagers. National Sleep Foundation,
n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
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Park, Alice, Alexandra Sifferlin, and Mandy Oaklander. "The Power Of Sleep." Time 184.11
(2014): 52. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

Reite M, Ruddy J, Nagel K. Concise guide to evaluation and management of sleep disorders (3rd
ed). American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2002
"Teens and Sleep." Sleep for Teenagers. National Sleep Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
TRISH CRAWFORD; TORONTO, STAR. "When School Starts Hour Later Grades Improve,
Students Stay Awake In Class." Canadian Press, The (n.d.): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 19
Nov. 2014.
"UCLA Sleep Disorders Center." Sleep and Teens. UCLA, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.