Persuasive Essay

Everyone enjoys their own hobbies, whether it is collecting model trains, binging TV shows, or playing video games. But the one activity everyone, universally, loves more than anything is conveniently something everyone needs; the glorious activity in question is sleeping. All living creatures have slept since the beginning of life itself; on the other hand, it is also something scientists still need to understand fully. Some of the finer points of sleeping, such as sleep disorders and cycles, are parts of sleep that humanity does not fully comprehend. This is particularly prominent in the United States as, unlike other countries, citizens are not traditionally given an opportunity during the day to rest like a siesta. According to UCLA, "Most people feel a mild need for sleep in the afternoon. This need to sleep grows much stronger at night. Because of this set rhythm in your body, the urge to sleep will be triggered at these times of the day. This occurs no matter how much sleep you got the night before" ("Sleep and Teens"). This "mild need for sleep" is the body's natural way of saying that it needs some rest, not necessarily sleep. Conversely, this is one of the body's many ways of saying it needs a break. Generally, sleeping is one of the most effective ways to recover from fatigue. The age group that experiences the most fatigue is young people, specifically teens. Teens are in an extraordinary period of their lives, a time of growth and development that requires quite a bit of sleep. 

As we go through different stages of our lives, we need more sleep; however, this need can be overridden by sleep disorders and unnatural sleeping patterns. For the most part, these different patterns of sleep can be caused by everyday inconveniences, such as stress or irritability. However, when teens begin to avoid going to sleep, whether they want to or not, it affects their sleep patterns in pretty noticeable ways. These effects commonly appear during puberty: "There is a shift in the timing of your circadian rhythms. Before puberty, your body makes you sleepy around 8:00 or 9:00 pm. When puberty begins, this rhythm shifts a couple of hours later. Now, your body tells you to go to sleep around 10:00 or 11:00 pm" ("Sleep and Teens"). The subsequent shift in a teen's circadian rhythm begins to cause problems with the modern school or work schedule. According to the CDC, "analyzed data from 2015 national and state Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. Found that students who were 6 to 12 years old and who reported sleeping less than 9 hours were considered to not get enough sleep. Teenagers aged 13 to 18 years who reported sleeping less than 8 hours also were considered to not get enough sleep" ("Sleep in Middle and High School Students"). Using this study as a basis and sleep guidelines provided by the Sleep Foundation, which states that a healthy adult needs to sleep between seven and nine hours a day, one can deduce that school work can and does harm children's sleep cycles. 

Sleep cycles play an important role in growing older, as they can improve people's quality of life and ensure that development goes smoothly during adolescence. Newsom's article "Sleep and Growing Older " states, "Many people believe that poor sleep is a normal part of aging, but it is not. Many healthy older adults report few or no sleep problems. Sleep patterns change as we age, but disturbed sleep and waking up tired every day are not part of normal aging" ("Sleep and Growing Older"). One of the most common disturbances to teens' sleep is school pressure. These pressures include tests, homework, projects, and other such deadlines, important events, and expectations placed upon them.

Furthermore, most teens think they can make up for the lost time by simply sleeping on weekends. However, this makes the problem worse, as it offsets their internal clock even more, making it harder for them to get back on the right track. Consequently, the sleep issues that affect teens persist throughout adulthood. Almost all teenagers who are given homework throughout their time in school often are fooled into believing that taking work home with them after hours is the next logical step. These poor decisions are punished even harder because the teens in question are beginning to grow older. (“Sleep and Teens”)

As teens' bodies begin to alter further into adulthood, the hormones in their bodies are produced in different amounts. The two main hormones that play the biggest role in sleeping for both adults and teens are melatonin and cortisol, and Rob Newsom affirms this notion in his article, "Changes in the production of hormones, such as melatonin and cortisol, may also play a role in disrupted sleep in older adults. As people age, the body secretes less melatonin, normally produced in response to darkness that helps promote sleep by coordinating circadian rhythms" (Newsom). 

On top of having poor sleeping habits that carried over from their teenage years, adults are also disadvantaged because their bodies do not produce as much of the hormone that actively promotes sleep. Sometimes the bad habits adults have when it comes to sleeping could have also derived from when they were babies. According to Jared Kaltwasser, "When a child has insomnia symptoms, the most common trajectory is for the sleep problems to persist into adulthood. Approximately 6 in 10 children with insomnia will either experience persistent symptoms into adulthood or will see a waxing-and-waning pattern, in which the symptoms come and go throughout their lives". However, since most babies tend to wake up their parents at strange hours, it appears to be fairly difficult for the average parent to recognize that their child may have a sleeping disorder. Sleep guidelines by the Sleep Foundation state that babies should have up to nine hours of sleep daily because their bodies are still developing. Following that train of thought, a myth began many years ago that adults need less sleep than teens or children, most likely because they are considered fully developed and do not need as much sleep as children do. However, that is proven to be false. (Sleep in Middle and Highschool Students).

According to sources such as the Sleep Foundation and Sleep Education, Adults need just as much sleep as adolescents but tend to sleep less due to issues that compound with their reduced production of hormones. Many reported problems stem from simply getting older, and according to Sleep Education, "Many older people also have habits that make it more difficult to get a good night's sleep. They may nap more frequently during the day or may not exercise as much. Spending less time outdoors can reduce their exposure to sunlight and upset their sleep cycle. Drinking more alcohol or caffeine can keep them from falling asleep or staying asleep" ("Sleep and Growing Older"). The increase in caffeine and alcohol while decreasing the amount of time in the sun can be directly correlated to the rise in time spent at the office or on the computer doing work and generally not taking care of themselves. And not budgeting their time to fit in hours for sleep is a habit that could stem from their school days. 

As previously mentioned, Many lousy sleeping habits that adults had stemmed from when they were teens in school. Often skip time to sleep to complete work for a deadline; then, as they grow older, this habit is compounded, and eventually, it grows into a much bigger problem continually worsened by them taking sleeping drugs. Sleep Education states, "Older adults who have poor nighttime sleep are more likely to have a depressed mood, attention and memory problems, excessive daytime sleepiness, more nighttime falls, and use more over-the-counter or prescription sleep aids. Poor sleep is also associated with a poorer quality of life" ("Sleep and Growing Older").  

In summary, While teens tend to sleep more, adults need just as much sleep to function properly throughout their day. Adults produce less natural melatonin in their bodies as they become older and, combined with their poor habits of staying up later to complete work, and the overconsumption of caffeine leads them to have a poorer quality of sleep and thus leads them to sleep less than teens.