It’s a common sight, whether it be first period on a Monday or last period on a Friday; there’s an exhausted student, head on the desk, dreaming about being anywhere but stuck in the classroom they’re sitting in. Maybe a teacher told them to wake up. Or maybe the teacher lets it go, allowing the student to snooze during the lesson, leaving them behind and confused when they come to.
We’ve all seen it, and we’ve all done it. But why do teens seem the most affected by daytime sleepiness, and what can we do about it?
Sleep doctors have established that during the teenage years, circadian rhythms shift, causing teenagers to be tired later, around eleven pm. This means that, in order to get an adequate amount of sleep, teens would have to wake up later.
The CDC discovered that 77.1% of high-schoolers in New York got “insufficient sleep,” which was defined as under eight hours a night. Even worse, sleep quality is also at concerning lows.
Have you ever woken up feeling more tired than you did when you fell asleep? You’re not alone, and it could be due to a lack of REM sleep. REM sleep, the deep sleep stage where dreams occur, decreases dementia risk and aids the body’s recovery from the stresses of the day. Substance use, such as the use of alcohol, marijuana, and caffeine have all been linked to lower amounts of REM sleep. All of these are the classic substances that some high-schoolers (and adults) could potentially abuse.
You may be quick to blame kids. These figures lay out an easy argument that the irresponsible substance use and social media use of teens is the root of all sleep-related problems. However, this position can be refuted by recent studies, showing that alcohol consumption and marijuana usage are actually down among teens, while caffeine numbers have stagnated. All of this shows that teen substance abuse has been a long-standing issue, whereas the sleep conundrum is only getting worse.
However, one aspect that cannot be ignored is social media use, which has only skyrocketed among teens in recent years. Although the argument isn’t wrong, blaming teens for this development is. Social media is designed to ambush your brain with dopamine with every audio, like, subscribe and notification. The constant rush of entertainment, along with the computer algorithm that crafts your “for-you” page, serve to make sure you’re always hooked. It’s called instant gratification, and since teens haven’t quite mastered the idea of delayed gratification yet, the quick hit of dopamine scrolling on social unleashes is especially enticing to teenagers. Teens aren’t necessarily trying to stay up late scrolling on social media. Rather, social media apps are trying to grab and hold onto teenage attention long into the night.
But scrolling through social media isn’t the only season people go to sleep late, and oversimplifying the teenage schedule in this way is to diminish high-schoolers’ intellect and the immensity of their responsibilities. Between clubs, sports, tutors, chores, going to part-time jobs, watching younger siblings, music lessons, doing homework, and studying for tests, some students can barely scrape up enough time for a meal and a shower.
And then, when teens finally get some free time, would they voluntarily choose enriching activities for their debilitated brain? Don’t be ridiculous. They want to enjoy their time and turn their brain off. And so, they go on their phones. It’s clear that teens use social media as a coping mechanism to handle their jam-packed schedules and stop their brains from imploding with the absolute propensity of the knowledge they cram into their brain on the daily. One could argue social media use is not the root of later sleep times, but is rather a by-product of busy schedules.
Although the origin of the sleep deprivation epidemic is contested, one thing is not: sleep is crucial, and teens don’t get enough of it. So, what’s the solution?
A better question is, what isn’t? The solution isn’t to blame children for their tiredness, scolding them for dozing off in class and conflating poor test scores with lack of sleep. Telling someone their problems are their fault rarely solves the problem, but breeds resentment and defiance. Rather, empathizing with students who are simply trying to stay awake and stay afloat is the best way to gain trust and cooperation.
Most advice pieces on teenage sleep overlook the responsibilities, schoolwork, and extracurriculars of teens as a major catalyst for low sleep numbers. Homework and studying, especially for AP and honors classes, is often a worse blocker of bedtime than social media. But the competitive nature of universities and the stress school puts on students to be high-scorers and avid participators means students are forced to pick between doing enough clubs to get into the Ivy League or getting adequate sleep. Students should never have to choose between their physical health and success before and after high school graduation, but that is the reality that high school students can attest to.
It’s not about the student’s lack of prioritization. The sleep deprivation epidemic is a clear result of the constant pressure put on teens to out-compete and outperform their peers in order to get into the most prestigious universities. It’s about the education system that doesn’t prioritize student’s mental and physical health, especially when it comes to sleep. Unless societal values shift, it seems that teens will continue to live off of sleeping in on weekends and iced lattes.