Recently I have seen loads of people on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posting about how tired they are and how they have had little or no sleep. I hear similar comments daily when I walk down the hallway. Everyone just seems so drained, and we just came back from spring break. Everyone should be rested up and ready to finish out the school year.
Everyone needs sleep to function, but is extremely important for teens to get sufficient sleep. Sleep helps us relax and function properly. We need sleep to function in school and to help deal with the stress of being a teenager. Not sleeping can be harmful, or even deadly. Imagine driving to school after having maybe an hour or so of sleep and it seems almost impossible to stay awake. You close your eyes for just a moment and you wreck.
When you drive while tired not only are you risking your life but your risking the lives of others on the road. Sleeping behind the wheel causes 10,000 wrecks a year. Being sleepy can also affect your attitude towards your friends, family, and teachers. It can also severely effect grades and every day activities. Lack of sleep can even cause the forever hated acne. If you are feeling super stressed, one reason is probably the lack of sleep. Sleep lessens stress and relaxes you. Studies show that teens need 9 1/4 hours of sleep but can function on only 8 1/2 hours of sleep. That would mean if you go to sleep at 9 and wake up at 6, you would have a full 9 hours of sleep (Facts derived from: http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep).
So why are teens losing sleep? One reason is because our schedules are overloaded. For example, a teacher gives you math homework at the end of class, and you do not have time to finish it. You know that you have an away softball game after school and you have to be at the school by 4:30 to get dressed and be on the bus. You know that you have to go and eat before, so you and a friend go to Mi Finca and eat before the game. You forget all about that homework until you get home around 10:30 that night and you know you will not have time to do it that morning because your math class is first block. Therefore, you stay up and do it and you finish around 12 and still have to shower. So around 12:45 you finally lay down and you cannot fall asleep because it is so hard to wind down after the day you have had. The next day you have no energy and are grouchy and the cycle repeats itself. Being a teenager in high school is stressful, so students must be sure to not overload themselves. It is important you make enough time to take care of yourself, have down time, and get your much needed sleep.
Out of all the reasons teens lose sleep the biggest cause is cell phones and computers. We all have a phone and we are all guilty of laying in bed and scrolling through Facebook or Twitter, losing track of time. Before you know it, it is 1 am and you are still awake. A large-scale study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that teens engage in social media on average 53 hours a week; that is roughly 7 hours a day! This does not include the time teens spend texting. (Facts derived from: http://www.sharecare.com/health/sleep-basics/how-social-media-affect-sleep). A new study shows that teens who use the internet and text are less likely to fall asleep and stay asleep and are more likely to have major mood swings. Experts say they have recently discovered a new impact on teens who sleep with their phone and that is sleep texting. Sleep texting is when someone actually texts or answers a text while still half asleep! Experts say that this alarming trend can happen to teens who sleep near their phone. Imagine waking up at and looking at your phone and noticing that you sent a text at 3 a.m. to your crush saying how you feel and not even remembering you did it; talk about embarrassing. (Facts derived from: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/tech/mobile/sleep-texting/)
What can you do to get a good nights rest? First of all, put your phone on quiet mode and put it on your nightstand. All the Facebook and Twitter drama will be there the next day; I promise. The next step is to lay down at a reasonable time. Even if you think you are not tired, go lay in your bed and relax. Before you know it your alarm will be going off and it will be time to start another day. Make sure the room you are sleeping in is dark and cool; this will help your mind relax. Try not to eat sweets before bed; it will cause nightmares and nobody likes nightmares. Cut back on caffeine before bed, and drink water. Try not to go to bed with a television on. If you need noise to sleep, try a fan and if you need the light try a small nightlight that plugs into an outlet. The last tip is to try to go to sleep at the same time every night. Eventually your body will get used to it and you will be falling asleep in no time (Facts derived from: http://www.cbn.com/health/newlife_sleepwell.aspx & http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm).