Jim Altringer
Sleep: Can’t We Ever Get Enough?
Sleep is something we take for granted, until it plays hard to get. Then it seems
we will do anything for just a few winks. Sleepy, tired, exhausted or beat, any way you
put it; it all means the same thing. We all need to get more sleep. Although statistics
show that we spend one-third of our lives sleeping, it never seems like one can get
enough. Sleep deprivation affects school performance in teens, increases accidents and
death rates, and, in general presents a lower quality of life.
Brown University sleep researcher, Mary A. Carskadon has some advice for
people who run high schools: Don’t start school so early. She says that it may not be that
students who have nodded off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents
have failed to enforce a bedtime. Instead, she says it may be that biologically, these
sleepy students simply can’t function at such an early hour. The average high school
student gets about 7.4 hours of sleep a night, which is just shy of the recommended eight.
In school, sleepy students don’t reach their full potential. It has been proven in numerous
studies that performance and creative thinking abilities decrease when a student is
suffering from sleep deprivation. Sadly, teachers are reporting that students are more
frequently falling asleep in class. About thirty percent of students surveyed admitted
falling asleep in class at least once a week. One high school student said that he fell
asleep so suddenly in study hall while writing an essay that he cut himself above one eye
when his head fell on his pen cap. Another admitted she took six stimulant pills a day and
drank two liters of Mountain Dew in order to stay awake. The two main reasons that
teens don’t get enough sleep are extracurricular activities and part-time jobs. Whether
they should become less involved or rearrange their priorities is a decision each has to
make for himself in order to get an efficient amount of sleep.
Another consequence of sleep deprivation is the high death rates and number of
accidents that are linked to fatigue. On August 18, 1993, an airplane registered to the
American International Airways Inc. collided with level terrain one-fourth of a mile away
from the approach end of a runway. The plane was destroyed and the three-crew
members were seriously injured. The National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB,
conducted a review of the accident and determined probable causes of the accident to be
impaired judgment, decision-making and flying abilities of the flight crew due to effects
of fatigue. The NTSB has found fatigue to be a contributor in accidents in every type of
transportation. In 1996, 1,084 sixteen year-olds lost their lives in traffic collisions. And
the number of teens coming into driving age will increase by twenty percent in the next
twelve years. Ten percent of male high school students surveyed admitted to falling
asleep behind the wheel, while fifty- percent of all high school students admitted to
struggling to stay awake behind the wheel. One high school student was killed driving
home from his part-time job because he had gotten only seven hours of sleep in the past
two days. Not only does sleep affect young people, but natural changes in sleep patterns
cause older drivers to become drowsy while driving too. When people don’t get enough
sleep, it can be extremely dangerous and even deadly behind the wheel operating any
type of transportation device.
Finally, when people are sleep deprived, they tend to present a lower quality of
life. I mean, how can someone enjoy exercising, going out with friends, working, or
doing anything if they are so tired, they could fall asleep at any second. When extreme,
fatigue can cause uncontrolled and involuntary shutdown of the human brain; an
individual who is very sleepy can lapse into sleep at any time, regardless of anything.
Many studies show that sleep deprivation causes not only reduced thinking and
productivity ability, but it also causes moods to worsen so one would be crabby or on
edge. Another consequence of sleep deprivation is the effect it has on growth and sexual
maturation, since hormones affecting both are secreted during the process of sleeping.
Like food and water, sleep is necessary for survival. Although our society tends
to view sleep as something we can do without, and has little regard for its importance,
sleep affects us twenty-four hours day. In the classroom, behind the wheel, on the job, or
at home. So for those people, who think of sleep as something relatively unimportant,
think about the effects of losing those important hours of shuteye, and maybe try to catch
up and live healthy.