Sleep is mandatory for humans to live a comfortable, disease-free life, in which they can function well and use their minds properly. It helps enhance memory, increase critical thinking, and improve decision making and the ability to learn. A night of sound sleep is necessary for the optimal level of performance of cognitive functions. It not only helps at school and home, but everywhere else too. Unfortunately most of people don’t get an adequate amount of sleep due to which their brain functioning decreases.
Sleep deprivation negatively affects students as well as their grades. Sleeping late acts as a stressor on school-going teenagers. In a study (Kelly, Kelly, and Clanton, 2001) it was found that sleep deprivation affects students’ ability to perform well in class. Kelly and colleagues reported that those students who slept less than six hours every 24 hours had lower grades than the students who slept for more than six hours. And one of the reasons is right under all of our noses.
The misuse of the Internet among children and adolescents has become a widespread and major public health concern the world over. The internet addiction phenomenon was first described in a number of papers in the mid- to late-90s by Griffiths and Young. The topic immediately gained more attention and has become a highly researched area.
Effects On Teenagers Due To Mobile And Television
In the recent past, the fast emergence of electronic devices (like laptops and cell phones) and increasing internet connectivity has caused a huge problem of sleep deprivation in young people. Many studies have shown that the mere presence of electronic devices in room can effect sleep pattern by causing later bedtimes, shortenthe duration of sleep, cause day sleeping, and less time in bed. Psychologists and brain experts says that electronic devices should not be kept in bedrooms for long durations, but the biggest harm is caused by the actual use of electronic devices.
Studies have not yet examined the complete impact of electronic devices on sleep in young people. It is almost impossible to avoid the use of electronic devices or to keep them outside one’s room at night. It has been found that people who use electronic devices sleep late and extend their sleep duration during weekends. Poor and short sleeping habits are becoming common. Around 40% of teenagers are affected by this. Puberty itself triggers hormones that delay the circadian rhythm, producing the psychological drive to sleep late. During the same period, teenagers became less sensitive to build-up of sleep pressure, allowing them to remain awake for longer times without falling asleep.
In a study, 9,846 participants aged between 16 and 19 were observed to know their daytime screen use and use of electronic devices before sleeping. It was found that the adolescents frequently use electronic devices during the day as well as before going to bed. The study showed a negative relationship between sleep and electronic devices usage and suggested imposing some restrictions on adolescents, regarding how long they used devices.
In 2007, only 4% of Americans owned smartphones (Radanick 2012), but this number has now reached 77%. Further, 92% of those under the age of 35 own at least one smartphone as of January 2017 (Pew Research Center). Today, mobile phone users have been increasing more rapidly in number in the Middle East and Asian countries, compared to Western nations. We can take the example of South Korea, where 100% of all people below the age of 35 own at least one smartphone.
A study done in 2012 shows that increasing smartphone usage has caused a new workplace threat to employee productivity—cyber loafing. The same study shows a direct relationship between cyber loafing and sleep.
It is an established fact that adequate sleep is necessary for the physical and other development of teenagers. Inadequate amounts of sleep causes many behavioural and psychological problems including depression. In fact, adolescence is a time of increasing proneness to poor mental health.
In another study (of 362 adolescents aged 12-17 including 45% female participated ) where their sleep disturbances and depression symptoms were assessed by using a questionnaire. The participants were asked questions about use of electronic devices before going to bed, such as frequency of daily TV watching, gaming, text messaging, talking on the phone, and generally spending time online. It was found that smartphone user participants went to bed late. The researchers mediated and studied a partial relationship between electronic devices usage before bedtime and signs of depression. Finally, they concluded that if we educate adolescents about the risks of using electronic devices at night, then it will make a positive impact on them.
In a major analytical study done by researchers of King’s College, London, in which they analyzed 20 studies involving 125,198 adolescents with an average age of 14 years, it was concluded that those who use electronic devices during bedtime not only sleep less but remain excessively tired the next day. This itself can cause serious health problems. Moreover the King’s College group also found that adolescents who use electronic devices before bedtime are twice as likely to have improper sleep, and three times more likely to excessively sleepy during daytime.
A recent study, conducted jointly by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society, developed a consensus that sleeping for less than seven hours per day regularly has adverse health outcomes which includes hypertension, depression, stroke, diabetes, increased risk of death, a compromised immune functions, increased pain, increased errors by loss of judgment, increase accident risks, and a perceptible decrease in performance.
According to a study in 2018, it has been discovered that high-speed internet can actually reduce the quantity, quality and pattern of sleep and bedtime. The same research also shows that not only your phone keeps you away from your required sleep but it is also what you are doing on your phone. The study further shows that using a device connected with broadband internet makes it more attractive to stay up later, resulting in 25 minutes less sleep each night than if a person wasn’t using the net at all.
Yet another study in 2007 examine children who were exposed to either the overuse of television watching or the overuse of computer games. It was found that the group that watched television late at night had reduced sleep efficiency. Meanwhile, the group that played computer games showed significant declines in verbal memory performance and more Stage 2 sleep (light sleep before entering the REM stage).
If you are not able to fall asleep at night, try to avoid the Internet as much as possible. Put your phone on airplane mode, as it will decrease radiation coming from your phone as well. Moreover, excessive use of the Internet can lead to dryness of eyes, carpal tunnel syndrome, pain in the wrist, back, neck, and shoulder, pain in the thumb and middle fingers, migraine headaches, and numbness.
While using the Internet, a young adults goes through numerous feelings: excited, thrilled, anxious, worried, aggressive, depressed. These strong emotions reinforce compulsive behavior and the need to use the Internet.
Impaired academic performance, substance abuse, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems have also been found as a result of poor sleep in studies conducted by different persons.