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intro- Walking into Springfield High School on a Monday morning at 7:35 A.M, you are sure to find students walking through the halls like zombies, still getting ready from their rushed morning, and trying to take a nap through the morning announcements. This daily struggle occurs because teenagers are biologically driven to sleep longer and later than adults. Specifically, they should be sleeping 9.2 hours a night, compared to the 7.5-8 hours that adults need.

Body Paragraph1- Teenagers are not the only ones who recognize the problem; there has been legislation created to combat the issue. Both Connecticut and Massachusetts state legislatures are considering a bill that would prohibit public schools from starting before 8:30 a.m. Some schools argue that adjusting school schedules is too expensive and complicated, but resistance to making this change is met by support from parents and teachers as well as students. Teachers complain that students fall asleep in classes, and parents argue that their children are irritable and constantly fatigued. The schools are concerned that since students will be released later in the day, those who play sports will be home late. Many insist, however, that the level of sleep teenagers are getting is far too low, and is resulting in consequences far worse than the physical, social and academic. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released statistics saying drowsiness and fatigue cause 100,000 traffic accidents a year; half of which are caused by teenagers. Teenagers are already the most likely to get into car accidents, and drowsiness is a cause of accidents, leading to a fatal mix of new drivers and sleep deprivation. The affects of teenagers lacking sleep include many serious consequences.

Body Paragraph 2- Many teenagers claim that academic struggles ensue when they go without sleep. "student quote". Irritability is a direct consequence of being deprived of rest. Listening in class is difficult when students are nodding off during lectures. Disciplinary problems, sleepiness in class and poor concentration are proven effects of sleep deprivation. W ork submission is often delayed, or work is not turned in at all. This leads to poor student-teacher relations, which can make the academic environment worse. Study skills are lacking when students are exhausted, because of a lack of motivation and inability to focus, and being tired makes you more likely to make mistakes. Cornell psychologist James b. Maas PhD is a sleep expert who has worked specifically with high school students and sleep deprivation. "What good does it do to try to educate teenagers so early in the morning? You can be giving the most stimulating, interesting lectures to sleep deprived kids early in the morning or right after lunch, when they're at their sleepiest, and the overwhelming drive to sleep replaces any chance of alertness,cognition, memory and understanding" (Maas). Maas is one of the many psychologists who support legislation for later school times.

Body Paragraph 3- A teenage brain has a circadian rhythm that switches on later at night as puberty progresses. A circadian rhythm is "a roughly-24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological or behavioral processes of living entities"(random house). the "pathologically sleepy", which seems to include most teenagers, fall directly into REM sleep in an average of only 3.4 minutes, a pattern similar to those who suffer from a sleep disorder know as narcolepsy. Narcoleptics suffer from frequent and uncontrollable periods of deep sleep. Falling almost directly into REM sleep is a very bad sign for teenagers because it proves how sleep deprived they really are. REM sleep is when dreams occur, and dreams are absolutely essential for your brain's survival.

Body Paragraph 4- Compiling a sleep debt, which is a tally of how many hours you lose each night, catches up to students by the end of the school week. For example, if you sleep seven hours on Tuesday night, you have added 2 hours to your sleep debt and etc. By Saturday morning many teenagers sleep in very late in order to alleviate this debt. This pattern is very unhealthy because maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is essential to good sleep habits. This creates a cycle of sleep deprivation that is difficult to break. Since teenagers circadian rythyms often cause them to not be tired until eleven o'clock and schools mandate attendance by 7:35 or even earlier, it is very hard to get the recommended nine hours of sleep. Since this becomes such a destructive pattern, issues more serious than academics can arise. Psycho pathologies such as depression and ADHD are physical results from not getting enough sleep. An increases in the risk of obesity also accompanies sleep deprivation.