In a recent research, an association between sleep deprivation and poorer grades has been revealed. In a 1998 survey of more than 3,000 high school students, psychologists Amy R. Wolfson, PhD, of the College of Holy Cross, AND Mary A. Carskadon, PhD, of Brown University Medical School, found that students who reported that they were getting C's, D's and F's in school obtained about 25 minutes less sleep and went to bed about 40 minutes later than students who reported that they were getting A's and B's. 

       In August of 1998, researchers at the University of Minnesota reported the results of a study of more than 7,000 high school students whose schools had switched from a 7:15 a.m. start time to an 8:40 a.m. start time. Compared with students whose schools maintained earlier start times, students with later starts reported getting more sleep on school nights, being less sleepy during the day, getting slightly higher grades and experiencing fewer depressive feelings and behaviors. 

Kaylyn Reinhold 

Teens need approximately nine hours of sleep each night to function best. Most teens do not get enough sleep, and only 15% are reported to be sleeping nine hours on school nights. In a recent University of Colorado survey, 82% of high school students reported that they woke up tired and more than 50% had trouble concentrating at school at least once a week. It is common for teenagers to have irregular sleep patterns during the week. Due to schoolwork , friends and stress, they are prone to stay up late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep. This leads to many sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome and sleep apnea.



Sleep deprivation has serious consequences. Inadequate sleep can cause mood and behavioral problems. Not getting enough sleep or having sleep difficulties can limit one's ability to learn, listen, and concentrate, which are all aspects crucial to the life of a teen. It may make one more prone to acne and other skin problems, lead to intolerant behavior and cause one to eat too much or eat unhealthy foods. It also heightens the effects of alcohol and contributes to illness or driving drowsy. The mere act of sleeping longer may reduce the probability of motor vehicle accidents in the community and increase students' test scores.

Kaylyn Reinhold

The importance of teen sleep

after researching a little more we decided to go a little deeper into our research and consult a sleep professional



We went to a sleep study at the Florida Hospital where Doctor Thornton explained to our group that each night our bodies go through a sleep cycle which is a VERY important attribute to our growth and well-being .

the sleep cycle is made up of 5 stages: stage 1, (5-10 min) where the person first starts drifting to sleep, stage 2 is a light stage of sleep where heart rate slows and temperature decreases, preparing the body for deep sleep. The next stage, called stages 3 &4, lasts 5-15 minutes where there is a rhythmic continuity throughout the body, this is deeper sleep. The next sleep is called non R.E.M. sleep. this is when all the stages are cycled through in the pattern 1,2,3,4,3,2 R.E.M.
Contrast between NORMAL and REM sleep


this R.E.M. stage is next. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. In this stage, there is deep dreaming, the body becomes paralyzed, this is where growth and the most beneficial sleep occurs. Because teens are not getting enough R.E.M.
sleep, they are hurting their bodies, not resting it properly, and can loose growth from skipping this step in sleep many nights.

Our team wants to reach out to the community with this great problem that is rising. One way we started to do this, we produced a video telling people of the great effects that can arise by not getting enough sleep as a teenager, which you can watch below. another thing that we did to inform our community was to hang fliers around the city that told them about our shocking discoveries.

We are a group that is interested in teen sleep deprivation. We first were curious of why all our high-school classmates were always tired. We found out through research that this is caused by many things and that the results of not getting enough sleep as a teenager are very costly and can have life long results.

We discovered all the things that keep teens like ourselves from getting enough sleep such as

ipod, tv, cell phone, caffeine, etc.




Through a survey that we distributed at our school we found that only 8% of students were getting the required 9 hours that are needed to be efficiently rested. Also, we found from our survey that most were staying up at night using some of the things listed above.