Does Sleep Effect Our Memory & The Process Of Learning?

AGD: *Plays Alarm clock* You probably all have been aquatinted with this treacherous tone and often filled with regret to why you didn’t go to sleep earlier. I’m sure the main majority of you have even heard it this morning. A tactic used to wake up ourselves in the early mornings because otherwise our bodies naturally would want to sleep right through the morning and you’d be late to class. (and get 10% off on you’re speech).

But! I can’t stress how crucial it is (especially for teens) to get sufficient sleep. Today, Im going to tell you why schools should start later for teens. According to TEDX on November 4th 2016 Sleep deprivation in teens is an widespread occurrence and is affecting learning, and memory consolidation in a very negative way. The goal in school is to learn and perform the skills you’ve acquired at these establishments day in and day out, but how do you expect these kids to accomplish these goals when they’re performance is being dampened by a harmful lack of sleep. First, i’m going discuss the cause, then the effect and lastly the solution.

MP1(cause)

Evidence: According to the National Sleep foundation last accessed July 15 2018, due to teens experiencing biological changes it results in them having a later sleep-wake clock.

Analysis: Which means its not all because of social media or youtube that keep teens up later, but their own body physically un-allowing them to fall asleep until later times. The early school start time is the kicker though. It is an obligation to start the day at these early times. Most high schools throughout the country start at 730 am.

MP2(Effect)

Analysis: Now that we’ve discussed the cause, now I’m going to discuss its effect. According to Time Health on September 4th 2017, 70 percent of high school students admit to getting 7 hours or less of sleep throughout the week. Because school times generally start before 8 am these teens are not meeting their healthy sleep requirements which can result in dire consequences. Ranging from poor school performance to obesity, and all other kinds of self-harm.

Evidence: Last accessed July 15 2018, Child mind institute talks about a boy at hunter college high school that had been getting a total of 3-4 hours of sleep for a number of days staying up to write a term paper and going to school early each day. One night it was about 3am and he went to take a break from his paper to get a snack. He was slicing up some cheese, but instead of cutting the gouda he ended up cutting clear through his thumb. Resulting in a trip to the emergency room and a total of two surgeries. The teen stated that the injury was 100 percent due to the poor sleep he’d been getting for months.