Though it can affect people at all ages, the prevalence of lack of sleep among teenagers, whose bodies and brains are still developing, is extremely alarming. Primarily, it causes lasting fatigue, which can impact students’ performances at school, work, and of course, their long-term health.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, children under 12 should regularly be sleeping at least 9 hours a day, while teenagers should be sleeping at least 8 hours a day. However, data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2015 indicated that around 58% of middle school students and 73% of students did not get enough sleep on school nights respectively. Stanford Medicine, one of the nation’s most prestigious and advanced medical research institutions, has even declared a sleep deprivation “epidemic” among teens. The effects of sleeplessness on academic performance is also well documented, The National Institute of Health (NIH), found that students who slept more had higher GPAs than students who slept less, with students who slept less having a GPA that was lower by 0.5 points on average. They also ranked sleep problems “second only to stress” in factors that negatively impact academic performance.