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.