Teen Sleep: Why Schools Should Start Later - Wendy Troxel TED Talk

Sleep deprivation has been a big issue in many countries, including the U.S. Various schools have had many discussions about this topic, but it's not viewed as an important one. Getting enough sleep and rest is important during our teenage years. Teens need more sleep than younger children, because rapid physical growth and activity during teen years can cause fatigue. Many teenagers sleep late and often have problems getting up in the morning. This pattern can cause problems like sleep deprivation.

In this Essay I'd like to discuss Wendy Troxels Ted Talk and present my own opinions and views on this topic.

So let's talk about what sleep deprivation is. Wendy describes it as "An epidemic amongst teenagers" This description seems very unusual but perfectly accurate to me. This so called "epidemic" can have an immense impact on the health of teenager. Not getting enough sleep can cause problems with the brain activity. When teenagers don't get the sleep they need, their brains, their bodies and behaviors suffer with both immediate and lasting effects.

Get quality help now

WriterBelle

Verified writer

Proficient in: Adolescence

4.7 (657)

“ Really polite, and a great writer! Task done as described and better, responded to all my questions promptly too! ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The never ending cycle of waking up early that teens follow for days makes them functionally useless.

Many people think that not getting enough sleeps only affects our school life, but as Wendy mentioned, the problems don't disappear outside of school. In the Ted Talk there have been brought up multiple examples of statistics and facts which support her statements.

Teens with sleep problems were 55% more likely to have used alcohol in the past month. In another study with over 30.

000 high school students, they found that for each hour of sleep, there was a 38% in feeling sad or hopeless and 58% increase in teen suicide attempts" It seem to me that Wendy brings up very accurate evidences, which support her statements. We can see that a simple necessity like sleep can cause much more than we think.

As it has been pointed out, not enough sleep is the source of many problems, but how does society view this issue? We can see that Wendy turned our attention to this specific question with quoting a statement adults say: Why should we delay start times for teenagers? We need to toughen them up so they're ready for the real world".

This simple point of view show us how this issue is not being taken seriously by society and mainly adults. The best solution for this epidemic is to talk about this more. Doctors, therapists, pedestrians and other health related figures should bring up this topic and convince society that this issue cannot be ignored.

Upon exploring the situation from multiple perspectives we can all agree that this is a major issue that needs to be paid attention to. As a teenager myself I feel the urge to talk about this and share my own opinion, while also taking into account what professionals, like Wendy Troxel, have to say.