Questions:

1. What is your take on the idea that students are becoming more and more
sleep deprived? Do you believe that simply pushing back school start timing
will aid in the recovery of students sleep cycles, or that students will just stay
up an hour later and thus they continue to receive less than the required
amount of hours?

In the 21st century, students are feeling more and more pressured to achieve,
to do, and to accomplish. Homework assignments during the middle and high
school years require multiple hours per night. On top of this, many students
experience pressure for extracurricular activities, sports, school plays, and so
on. Not to mention social and pubertal changes that take place during the
adolescent years. And there are still only 24 hours in a day. Sleep is often one
of the first health needs that is shortcut, and students arent getting the sleep
they need.

The evidence thus far seems clear namely, that later school start times lead
to more sleep, which leads to improved academic performance, reduced
delinquency, and so on. When students are given an extra hour to sleep in,
they dont wake up early to play video games. They sleep in, and their brains
benefit as a result.

2. With our generations growing dependence on technology and schools
beginning to use it as an easier way to remain in contact with students, is
there a viable correlation that with schools utilizing technology to give out
work, students sleep is affected due to more hours in front of the screen?

On the one hand, technology has allowed students greater connection with
their friends than ever before. On the other hand, social media is not always
healthy, or helpful. From a sleep perspective, electronics negatively impact
sleep for two reasons. First, students choose to stay awake and connected, or
engaged. Second, blue light suppresses melatonin, which further delays
students sleep phase, or makes it harder to fall asleep.

3. Do you see any evidence that students are being encouraged to stay up later
due to either their peers, teachers, or coursework (ex. SAT, ACT, AP)? Does
college readiness imply a sleep less mentality in teens?

SEE ABOVE

4. By accumulating sleep debt, there is no way to make up for the hours lost and
in the process the circadian rhythm of the body is thrown off. What
symptoms follow suit? Does it impact their academic performance, health,
physical activity?

The negative effects of sleep loss are startling, acute, and cumulative and
impact nearly every bodily system. In other words, not getting enough sleep
worsens learning, memory, mood, response speed, hormone secretion, and
appetite, just to name a few and these impairments happen very quickly and
get worse over time. Sleep scientists have not yet identified the time it takes to
recover from sleep loss, although these questions are currently being
explored.


5. Does sleep deprivation have a long standing impact of the development of
the long term and short term tissue within the hippocampus of the brain? Is
this especially detrimental during teenage years due to the brain still
developing?

There is no question that the brain is undergoing important changes during
the student years. Although it is clear that sleep loss causes short-term
problems in multiple domains, and has also been associated with adverse
long-term outcomes, the specific neurophysiologic mechanisms are not yet
fully understood.

6. If the average necessary sleep cycle of a teen is a known fact, why do schools
directly impede upon the hours students should be receiving? With an
increase rise in advocating for AP exams and earlier school timings, do they
not realize or form the connection that students are being heavily affected by
these changes and thus negatively performing in their academic courses?

Youll need to ask your school