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Opinion | Let Teenagers Sleep In
Three out of every four students in grades 9 to 12 fail to sleep the minimum of eight hours that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends for their age group. And sleep deprivation is unremittingly bad news. Anyone who talks about sleep as if it's some kind of inconvenience and getting less of it is a virtue should be challenged. These people are dangerous.
At its most basic, insufficient sleep results in reduced attention and impaired memory, hindering student progress and lowering grades. More alarmingly, sleep deprivation is likely to lead to mood and emotional problems, increasing the risk of mental illness. Chronic sleep deprivation is also a major risk factor for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer. As if this weren't enough, it also makes falling asleep at the wheel much more likely.
In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., a policy now backed by the American Medical Association, the C.D.C. and many other health organizations.
[...] Whenever schools have managed the transition to a later start time, students get more sleep, attendance goes up, grades improve and there is a significant reduction in car accidents. The RAND Corporation estimated that opening school doors after 8:30 a.m. would contribute at least $83 billion to the national economy within a decade through improved educational outcomes and reduced car crash rates. The Brookings Institution calculates that later school start times would lead to an average increase in lifetime earnings of $17,500.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @06:12AM (3 children)
Maybe that's the real reason we need big brains. We intentionally do stuff that kill our brain cells on a regular basis (late nights, drink alcohol, insufficient sleep, abrupt wake ups, etc).
It's not like smart creatures need huge brains (e.g. crows are quite smart and yet have small brains).
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @10:07AM (2 children)
"Humans are one of the very few animals that are forced to wake up abruptly on a regular basis."
That is indeed correct. Every other species on the planet gets forced to wake up abruptly on an irregular basis just before something tries to kill it for food.
Fact is, we're the only species on the planet that even really has a chance to get real sleep.
(Score: 5, Touché) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday September 25 2018, @03:40PM
Not sure about that. My cats do pretty good.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 25 2018, @04:58PM
That's pretty much BS. You overstate the danger and risk. The fact is bears and rodents can hibernate for long periods of time and plenty of them don't end up killed for food.
Lots of animals get real sleep.