Zelley 1

Nick Zelley
Mrs. Walroth
ARC Online
14 January 2014
Introduction
A Study of Teenage Sleep Patterns
Everyone needs sleep. The body requires sleep to function, and a good nights sleep
allows one to get the most out of the next day. However, with so many distractions it is hard for
people to achieve the proper amount of sleep. I see this problem and experience it everyday in
high school. High school is a very important time in our lives. We obtain important information
at school, and our bodies are growing. It is very important that high schoolers get enough sleep
during this stage of their lives. Teens just arent getting enough sleep. The National Sleep
Foundation reports that only about 15% of teens are getting at least 8 hours of sleep on a
school night and thats not even the required amount. Teenagers should be getting 9 hours of
sleep each night to live a healthy life (Teens and Sleep). Not only are high schools not getting
the required amount of sleep but their sleep patterns are very irregular. The National Sleep
Foundation tells us that Teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week they
typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks
and hurt the quality of their sleep (Teens and Sleep). Teenagers are not getting the quality
sleep required to have a healthy life. To fully understand the problem we need to ask the
following questions.

Research Questions

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How much sleep does the average teenager need?

How much sleep does the average teenager get?
What can schools do to help get teenagers more sleep?
What can teenagers themselves do to get more sleep?

Action Research Project: A Study

on High Schoolers Sleep Patterns:
An Annotated Bibliography

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Bellenir, Karen. Sleep Information for Teens. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2008. Print.
This book provides a great amount of information regarding sleep. It talks about how
many hours are required for teenagers every night. Karen also talks about why we need
to sleep and common sleep patterns. It also talks about the effects of things such as sleep
deprivation. Sleep disorders are also listed in this book and the effects of them. This
information is very helpful and can be used to great effect. The information is also
reliable due to it being presented by a reputable author in a published book. Karen
Bellenir is a good author with other published informative books.

"Insufficient Sleep among High School Students Associated with a Variety of Health-Risk
Behaviors." - National Sleep Foundation. National Sleep Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Jan.
2015.
This provides a good outlook on the negative effects of sleep deprivation. It also goes
into detail on how lack of sleep is associated with risky behaviors. It talks about how
lack of sleep can be associated with things such as marijuana use and sexually activites.
The article lists 10 risky behaviors that sleep deprivation is associated with. The article
provides some very interesting statistics and information. This article is a trustworthy
source as it comes from a reliable website. The National Sleep Foundation is a non profit
organization with many certified professionals who specialise in healthcare. Although
the author is not stated because the website is credible the statistics and information
provided will help give backing to the solutions made in this paper.
"Let Them Sleep: AAP Recommends Delaying Start Times of Middle and High Schools to
Combat Teen Sleep Deprivation." Let Them Sleep: AAP Recommends Delaying Start

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Times of Middle and High Schools to Combat Teen Sleep Deprivation. American
Academy of Pediatrics, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
This article provides information on one of our research questions. The article talks
about a possible solution to teen sleep deprivation. It provides the solution of making
school start later to allow teenagers to sleep in and get the required amount of sleep. This
will be very useful to use when talking about the solutions to the problem of teen sleep
deprivation.
Teens and Sleep. Sleep for Teenagers. National Sleep Foundation, n. d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
This is a lengthy source of vast information about teens and sleep. There are pages of
information ranging from basic facts about the benefits of sleep to the consequences of
sleep deprivation and how to avoid sleep deprivation. This article provides detailed
information and statistics about sleep that can be used. With multiple pages of
information The National Sleep Foundation outdid themselves when they wrote this.
Although there is no author we know that The National Sleep Foundation is a reliable
source on this subject. These statistics on teenage sleep deprivation will help provide a
background in the introduction.

Thropy, Michael J., and Jan Yager. The encyclopedia of sleep and sleep disorders. New York:
Facts on File, 2001. Print
The encyclopedia of sleep and sleep disorders provides very solid information. With
multiple contributors this encyclopedia does a great job of providing basic information on
sleep and in depth information on multiple sleep disorders. The information in this
encyclopedia is very reliable having multiple people put their knowledge into it. This
will provide the information needed to explain the effects of sleep deprivation.

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Data
To better answer the research questions a survey was created. The survey was answered
by fifty people. They were asked the following questions.

How many hours of sleep on average do you get each night on

average?
How many hours do you spend on school work every night?
Do you participate in any after school activities?
Do you have a job?

First, It is important that the average number of hours of sleep teenagers are getting is
known . Then, the survey was designed to figure out why teenagers may not reach the required
number. My hypothesis was that teenagers are busy after school with clubs, sports, or a job.
Then, when they got home, teenagers would stay up doing school work.

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Looking at the data, out of fifty teenagers asked, forty arent getting the required amount
of sleep. Only 20% of the teenagers asked are getting the required amount of sleep. This is
expected if compared to The National Sleep Foundations results who, as stated above, found
only 15% of teenagers getting the required amount sleep (Teens and Sleep).

Have Jobs

Do Not Have Jobs

33

17

Another thing that can look at is how many high schoolers asked have jobs. About 66%
of the high schoolers asked have jobs. This could be a factor in what is keeping teenagers up so
late.

Take Part in a Club/Sport

Do Not Participate

29

21

Of the teenagers who were asked, 58% take part in sports or clubs. Another factor that
should be taken into consideration when figuring out what keeps teenagers up so late.

Number of Hours Spent on Schoolwork

Number of Teens

27

14

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The majority of kids at least spend an hour on school work each night. This is another
contributor to keeping high schoolers up late.
Here it can see how all these things may add up and keep a high schooler up late.
It should be noted that most of the kids asked were seniors. This could explain why 66% of
teenagers asked have jobs. These answers were only taken from a small sample group of fifty
people. A bigger sample size is needed to draw better conclusions overall.
Conclusion
Although it is a small sample size a trend can be seen; Teenagers arent getting enough
sleep. So what can be done to get high schoolers the correct amount of sleep; or at least steer
them in the right direction? The best solution would be making schools start times later. This
solution has already been brought up by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP urges
middle and high schools to aim for start times that allow students to receive 8.5 to 9.5 hours of
sleep a night. In most cases, this will mean a school start time of 8:30 a.m. or later, though
schools should also consider average commuting times and other local factors. (Let Them
Sleep). If something like this was put in place then teenagers would be much more productive in
school and live healthier. Obviously this change alone would not solve the problem. Teenagers
also need to do their part. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that teens set a schedule.
Schedules can help get a teens sleep back on track. Having a consistent sleep cycle can also
help teens feel less tired since it allows the body to get in sync with its natural patterns (Teens
and Sleep). Another thing that can work is taking naps. A quick 20 minute power nap can get
anyone back on track for the day, and help them stay focused. Beware that this is not a
permanent fix and only a temporary one. A sleep schedule will still need to be established and a
sufficient amount of sleep is still needed. Overall something needs to be done about teenage

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sleep patterns. Right now high schoolers arent getting the most out of school because of sleep
deprivation and change is imminent

Works Cited
Bellenir, Karen. Sleep information for teens. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2008.
"Insufficient Sleep among High School Students Associated with a Variety of Health-Risk
Behaviors." - National Sleep Foundation. National Sleep Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Jan.
2015.
"Let Them Sleep: AAP Recommends Delaying Start Times of Middle and High Schools to
Combat Teen Sleep Deprivation." Let Them Sleep: AAP Recommends Delaying Start
Times of Middle and High Schools to Combat Teen Sleep Deprivation. American
Academy of Pediatrics, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
Teens and Sleep. Sleep for Teenagers. National Sleep Foundation, n. d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

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Thropy, Michael J., and Jan Yager. The encyclopedia of sleep and sleep disorders. New York:
Facts on File, 2001. Print