Status: maybe daily maybe weekly maybe not
Bandersnatches and Scapegoats
25 October 2011 (Part 2)
Stay Awake!
Because our state is a suburb turned sales tax sanctum for the state of Massachusetts, most people know of—or are on personal terms with—Boston. A little more specifically, some might even admit to taking a prowl around Boston’s less-than-enchanting Chinatown once in a while. Now, here's where people start to get lost: across the road from South Station two side-streets away but in sight of Hing Shing Bakery and just before the distinctive páifāng gate of Chinatown, there is a spat of graffiti on the damp concrete wall of a cramped alley that reads in simple blue lettering: “STAY AWAKE!” Shouting at the world, at passers-by, at you. One might ask themselves why this is so important. Why is this the involuntary psychological mantra of every teenager, every young adult in the United States?
The relationship between high school students and sleep has long been one of fleeting teases and short Sunday night hook-ups; ironically, despite how well they might seem to function, adolescents need even more sleep than the average adult: about 9 to ten hours a night. And yet, what sort of teenager takes four classes, gets home from school at 3 o’ clock, and finishes their homework before 10p.m.? Many students work during the school week, some with hours like 6p.m. – 11p.m., 5p.m. – 9p.m., even 4:30p.m. – 10p.m.. When asked how many hours of sleep snatched on an average school night, 11th grader John Smith estimates “5 to 6 hours.”
The truth is, it’s impossible for high school students to meet this most basic of biological needs under the pressures of American society. Adolescents are part of the work force and the academic world and the sports scene, and must maintain a social life. Obviously America is preparing this percentage of the populace for the real world: what’s ironic is that this preparation is actually subverting the natural process of preparation that happens when said population sleeps. Everyone is already aware—most by firsthand experience—that lack of sleep impairs cognitive function, but it turns out now that the brain needs more rest than any other part of the body. More than just an important period of development, studies now show that there is a direct impact on memory by the individual’s sleeping habits. The hippocampus is the portion of the brain that maintains long-term memory, from spatial recognition to trigonometry, and the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus takes place mostly during rest. Sleep helps these cells survive, so losing sleep inhibits and even reverses the rejuvenating effect that new learning has on the brain.
As America strives to prepare its droid army of consumers from the restless, restless masses, its process risks affecting the cortical health and neurogenesis of the age group. Sleep disorders affect between 50 and 70 million Americans in 2006, according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The Institute also estimates the lost productivity and mishaps of fatigue cost businesses roughly $150 billion, while motor vehicle accidents involving tired drivers cost at least $48 billion a year. To have a sleep disorder, one doesn’t have to be in the military or medical school, they just have to be a student. While most don’t think about it, the pandemic of teenage sleep deprivation can be considered a sort of chronic insomnia. Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry, commented on a study conducted in 2010 by Ellemarijie Altena—lead author of the study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience—that "insomnia is a common feature of nearly every psychiatric condition associated with reduced cortical volume; in fact, it is a common symptom of psychiatric disorders or high levels of life stress, generally. The study by Altena and colleagues suggests that there are additional risks of not treating insomnia, such as detrimental effects on the microstructure of the brain."
As a person ages, they need less and less sleep; as they approach adolescence, they get less and less. It’s not the students’ fault for taking too much on, its not their friends or their parents or their leaders; it’s not even about procrastination: walking into school with an open energy drink and two pale black eyes is just an exhausting reality for American youth. Dependent on the highs and highers of carbonated beverages and life, they will join the droid army with no qualms and no choice but to work through the disadvantage that society has raised them with.
Life is demanding, peers are pressuring, the walls are shouting; they must stay awake!
Because our state is a suburb turned sales tax sanctum for the state of Massachusetts, most people know of—or are on personal terms with—Boston. A little more specifically, some might even admit to taking a prowl around Boston’s less-than-enchanting Chinatown once in a while. Now, here's where people start to get lost: across the road from South Station two side-streets away but in sight of Hing Shing Bakery and just before the distinctive páifāng gate of Chinatown, there is a spat of graffiti on the damp concrete wall of a cramped alley that reads in simple blue lettering: “STAY AWAKE!” Shouting at the world, at passers-by, at you. One might ask themselves why this is so important. Why is this the involuntary psychological mantra of every teenager, every young adult in the United States?
The relationship between high school students and sleep has long been one of fleeting teases and short Sunday night hook-ups; ironically, despite how well they might seem to function, adolescents need even more sleep than the average adult: about 9 to ten hours a night. And yet, what sort of teenager takes four classes, gets home from school at 3 o’ clock, and finishes their homework before 10p.m.? Many students work during the school week, some with hours like 6p.m. – 11p.m., 5p.m. – 9p.m., even 4:30p.m. – 10p.m.. When asked how many hours of sleep snatched on an average school night, 11th grader John Smith estimates “5 to 6 hours.”
The truth is, it’s impossible for high school students to meet this most basic of biological needs under the pressures of American society. Adolescents are part of the work force and the academic world and the sports scene, and must maintain a social life. Obviously America is preparing this percentage of the populace for the real world: what’s ironic is that this preparation is actually subverting the natural process of preparation that happens when said population sleeps. Everyone is already aware—most by firsthand experience—that lack of sleep impairs cognitive function, but it turns out now that the brain needs more rest than any other part of the body. More than just an important period of development, studies now show that there is a direct impact on memory by the individual’s sleeping habits. The hippocampus is the portion of the brain that maintains long-term memory, from spatial recognition to trigonometry, and the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus takes place mostly during rest. Sleep helps these cells survive, so losing sleep inhibits and even reverses the rejuvenating effect that new learning has on the brain.
As America strives to prepare its droid army of consumers from the restless, restless masses, its process risks affecting the cortical health and neurogenesis of the age group. Sleep disorders affect between 50 and 70 million Americans in 2006, according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The Institute also estimates the lost productivity and mishaps of fatigue cost businesses roughly $150 billion, while motor vehicle accidents involving tired drivers cost at least $48 billion a year. To have a sleep disorder, one doesn’t have to be in the military or medical school, they just have to be a student. While most don’t think about it, the pandemic of teenage sleep deprivation can be considered a sort of chronic insomnia. Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry, commented on a study conducted in 2010 by Ellemarijie Altena—lead author of the study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience—that "insomnia is a common feature of nearly every psychiatric condition associated with reduced cortical volume; in fact, it is a common symptom of psychiatric disorders or high levels of life stress, generally. The study by Altena and colleagues suggests that there are additional risks of not treating insomnia, such as detrimental effects on the microstructure of the brain."
As a person ages, they need less and less sleep; as they approach adolescence, they get less and less. It’s not the students’ fault for taking too much on, its not their friends or their parents or their leaders; it’s not even about procrastination: walking into school with an open energy drink and two pale black eyes is just an exhausting reality for American youth. Dependent on the highs and highers of carbonated beverages and life, they will join the droid army with no qualms and no choice but to work through the disadvantage that society has raised them with.
Life is demanding, peers are pressuring, the walls are shouting; they must stay awake!
♠ ♠ ♠
Not an opinion story, so I couldn't use many pronouns.Hasn't been reviewed yet, but I suspect the response will be the same.