Teenagers in today’s world are getting less sleep every single day. Some major causes behind this are social media and the extra activities such as late-night scrolling on social media, sports practices, homework,  part-time jobs, and more. According to Stanford Medicine, “more than 87 percent percent of U.S. high school students get far less than the recommended eight to ten hours of sleep.”

All teens know that sleep is really important for them, but the schedules that some of them have make it impossible to get that necessary sleep duration of eight to ten hours. The lack of sleep from social media and extracurricular activities is damaging teen physical and emotional health.

The biggest problem for teens to sleep is social media.

Apps like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram keep people scrolling and watching for a long period of time. A lot of teens say right before bed they’re going to check something on their phone, but usually that turns into being on their phone for several hours, when they should be sleeping.

Notifications from group chats and other social facets of mobile phones make it difficult to disconnect from online. 

Many teens think they are gonna miss something important if they put their phone down and try to get some sleep. When teens finally do try and go to sleep, their brains are still firing brain signals that are trying to process what they were just doing on their phone.

Another major issue that causes teens to get less sleep is the workload; for instance, after-school activities that many teens are involved in may take up huge amounts of time. Sports practices can run late into the evening or even into the night. So, by the time they get home to eat dinner, shower, and start homework, it is already cutting into the time needed to reach the recommended hours of rest. Many students are also in clubs, bands, or leadership groups that have meetings that they have to go to, which further impairs access to this time. 

There are also many teens out there who have part-time jobs and other similar responsibilities. The teens who have these part-time jobs are trying to save money for their future, potentially for when they go off to college. By the end of the day, these teens are mentally and physically drained and exhausted from all the work they have done in the day, but they can’t go to sleep because they still have to finish their homework and many other things before bed.

The big problem our society has demonstrated is that people believe sleep is optional or replaceable by energy drinks, coffee, or tea, but is essential for the teenage body and brain. Sleep affects mood, focus, and physical health. Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep find themselves angry, stressed, and unaware. This contributes to the struggle of paying attention in class, making school feel longer and harder than it should be. 

Lack of sleep can even weaken the immune system, making it easier for teens to get sick. 

Not sleeping enough has caused serious mental-health problems, including depression and anxiety. All of these proven detrimental effects have further shown the importance of sleep, experts urging that this issue needs to be fixed. 

This essentially means that teens need better sleeping habits.

This might mean putting the phone down each night at the same time every day or just turning off the phone when going to bed. Students can also make a detailed schedule for when they should do their homework and all the other tasks needing to be done. Studies have shown that even the simplest changes, like going to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual, makes a huge difference in how teens feel, making it a priority every day.