Patrick Canipe

English 112 - Argument Paper

July 10, 2019

Child Sleep Deprivation and its Effects On Academics:

Most would agree that academics are one of the most important things in a child's life. Without

education, a child's future can be limited. What people do not know, is that sleep is just as important.

Academics and sleep go hand to hand. Children across the world have become so sleep deprived that

their academics and lives are taking a fall. ​“Sleep—not getting enough or not getting good sleep—can

greatly affect students’ cognitive, academic, behavioral, emotional, and social functioning” (Sleep). Sleep

should be a top priority for school children to assure that they are in a state of well being. School

students of all ages are experiencing sleep deprivation due to a heavy workload and busy schedules,

leading to their academics, memory, and development being negatively affected.

People believe that school children live a carefree life and that they have all the free time in the

world. That is just not the case. School children are consumed in more activities than most adults.

Students begin their days with seven hours of school. Students then have several hours of homework

and studying to do, not to mention any other club activities or sports. Students can also be caught up in

other things such as scholarships or even college application. The life of a school student can be very

busy and it gets hard to juggle everything. Do to students being so busy, the majority of them are falling

behind on their sleep. “One of the most frequently overlooked reasons for sleep disturbance in children

is stress. Every day children go through an abundance of new environments and situations. Some of

these stressors include but are not limited to parental stress, feeling behind in school, friends, and

bullying” (Kent). When students fall behind on their sleep, their academics and bodies take a downward

spiral. Students are consumed in so much that they are becoming stressed out which then leads to these

issues. A change in the amount of work and activities outside of school needs to be decreased so
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students have enough time to be social with their friends and even have family time so they are not

stressed out and losing sleep.

What many people do not know is that academics are directly impacted by the amount of sleep

that a student gets during a night. When a student gets very little sleep, it has been proven that their

grades will drop. However, when a student gets the recommended six to nine hours of sleep, their

grades have been proven to go up. Due to students being so busy, they have become sleep deprived.

Sleep deprivation is not something most teachers would immediately suspect when a student does

badly on an assignment or test. However, it is something that teachers need to take a closer look at. “A

child who is struggling in school may be struggling with poor or inadequate sleep, rather than lack of

ability” (Edwards). Teachers only know what a child is experiencing during school hours. The school

system needs to take into account all the out of school activities a student may be experiencing. Sleep

deprivation affects students attention span, emotions, energy levels, and stress levels (Edwards). Experts

warn, when a child is struggling, it is important to be sure that it is not something that can be easily

corrected like sleep. It is very important to emphasize the importance of sleep to school children to

assure that they are capable to meet academic standards.

Memory plays a huge roll in education. Majority of what students learn they have to remember.

Most tests and quizzes are also an examination of the student's memory. What people do not know is

that memory and sleep go hand to hand. While people sleep at night, their brains are resting and

stowing away all the information that they endured during the day. In order for the brain to do this, it

has to reach deep sleep known as REM sleep (“Sleep”). If high school students are so busy with

after-school activities that their sleep time is being cut short, some of them will never reach REM sleep.

If students do not reach REM sleep, they will have a hard time remembering information when they are

quizzed or tested. Not only do these students need to remember the information being presented to

them in school for quizzes and tests, but the need to remember it for life. There is no point in teaching
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these kids just so they can forget what they learned in just a few weeks. “Five hours of sleep deprivation

leads to a loss of connectivity between neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated

with learning and memory” (“Sleep”). The amount of out of school work and activities need to be cut

down so students are capable of reaching REM sleep and remembering all the information being

presented to them.

Sleep deprived children have many things to worry about but a major one is their development.

Many school students are at the time in their lives where they are experiencing changes in their

hormones and anatomy. Because these students are so busy and they are being sleep deprived. Their

development can get thrown off schedule. Sleep allows for children to grow and develop while they are

in the puberty stages (Wallace). Teenagers bodies are also experiencing chemical changes as they are

developing. “ As adolescents enter puberty they experience dramatic biological changes that effects

their hormonal balance, the shape of their bodies, and the architecture of their brain” (Wallace). For all

of these things to happen in students bodies, it is important that they are given some time to relieve

stress as well as time to get an adequate amount of sleep. This is a very important time in their life and

the adults need to make sure that the teenagers are set up for success. If these things are not happening

properly it can lead to more stress which could have a negative impact on academics.

Since sleep is so important for students all over the country, something has to be done to assure

they get enough sleep. As of now, there are no laws limiting the amount of work teachers send home

with their students. There are many things that can be done to try and fix this issue. The first thing that

needs to be done is teachers communicating with other teachers. Often times teachers will assign loads

of homework without knowing how much other teachers have assigned as well. Teachers

communicating well with parents could also improve this issue. The parents and teachers need to be on

the same page with how much work each student has. It is also important for parents to clearly

communicate if the student has any sleep disorders or difficulties sleeping. Educating parents and
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students on the importance of sleep for school children may also help the issue. “ The importance of

sleep to academic functioning, as well as the ease and efficacy of brief interventions to improve sleep,

suggests that expanding our role to provide support for sufficient sleep may have a significant impact on

student functioning” (Laracy). By doing these simple things, hopefully, the children's health can be

improved and they will be set up for academic success and a better future.

Students of all ages are consumed with so much that they are experiencing lack of sleep which

leads to their memory, academics, and development being negatively affected. “24 percent of teens

don't have the energy for after-school clubs”​(“Teens”).​ Sleep is so important for the students. It has

been proven that sleep and academics are directly related. Kids have been struggling for years in school

and nobody is suspecting sleep deprivation to be a possible cause. Assuring that students are healthy

enough to be educated is important for the academic system and the students future. It is the parents

and teachers jobs to take charge of this issue and work together to make sure their students and kids

are achieving peak academic performance.

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Works Cited

Edwards, Jennifer P. Sleep Habits and Academic Performance, Auburn University, Ann
Arbor, 2008. ProQuest,
https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/304689638?accountid=10163.

Kent, Kathleen. Inconsistent Sleep and the Elementary Level Student: Development of a
Teacher and Parent Resource for School Staff, Alliant International University, Ann
Arbor, 2016. ProQuest,
https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/1806524759?accountid=10163.

Laracy, Seth D., Tamique J. Ridgard, and George J. Dupaul. Sleep and School Functioning:
Guidelines for Assessment and Intervention. vol. 43, National Association of School
Psychologists, Bethesda, 2015. ProQuest,
https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/1718897759?accountid=10163.

Sleep and School Functioning: Information for Families and Educators. vol. 46, National
Association of School Psychologists, Bethesda, 2017. ProQuest,
https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/2210393237?accountid=10163.

"Sleep Deprivation; how Sleep Deprivation Harms Memory." NewsRx Health, Sep 11, 2016,
pp. 55. ProQuest,
https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/1815741982?accountid=10163.

"Sleep Deprivation; Sleep Deprivation may Increase Susceptibility to False Memories."

NewsRx Health,​ Aug 24, 2014, pp. 125​. ProQuest​,
https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/1553151954?accountid=10163.

"Teens Running on Empty."​ Stornoway Gazette and West Coast Advertiser,​ Nov 08, 2015​.
ProQuest​,
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https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/1731818494?accountid=10163.

Wallace, John E. Sleep Habits of High School Students: An Intervention to Improve them,
Louisiana Tech University, Ann Arbor, 2011. ProQuest,
https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview
/898608129?accountid=10163.