Sleep is important to the mental survival of humans just as food, water, and oxygen are to the physical self. While getting the recommended amount of sleep each night provides for the healthy running of the human body, not getting enough has negative effects. In this research paper, I will illustrate the negative effects that a lack of sleep can have upon adolescents because of their unique circadian rhythms and early school schedules, which should be modified to a later time to help students perform at their best. There are four stages of sleep for human beings, and the level of unconsciousness deepens in ascending order. In a stage of alertness, the brain wave activity is usually between 15 - 30 Hz, and upon drowsiness decreases to 8 - 12 Hz. The first stage is the bridge between the state of wakefulness and sleep and has a wave frequency between 3.5 and 7.5 Hz, which is called theta activity. As the stages go on, it becomes increasingly difficult to wake a person up from sleep. Delta activity, less than 3.5 Hz, proceeds once the brain reaches stages three and four. This is called slow-wave sleep, because as the frequency of the wave decreases, the wavelength increases. Then suddenly, a reverse pattern occurs, whereby the sleeper goes back to stages three, two and one, almost to a setting of alertness once more as the brain wave frequency peaks again, and it almost seems like the person is about to actually wake up. The stage of Rapid Eye Movement(REM) ensues follows, and is signified by the presence of dreams. During this stage, brain wave activity resembles that of wakefulness, as does heart rate and breathing. Also, we experience muscle paralysis during this time as the brain sends signals to leg, arm, and abdominal muscles to relax. This whole sleep cycle lasts about ninety minutes, and repeats throughout the night until the sleepers awakens naturally because of sufficient sleep or stimulus such as an alarm(SOURCE). In order for the human body to function normally mentally and physically, sufficient sleep is necessary; in this case, adolescents require 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep each night(National Sleep Foundation 2). Circadian Rhythms, internal biological cycles that occur once every twenty-four hours, are daily patterns that alternate between wakefulness and sleep. They are controlled by they hypothalamus in the brain, specifically, in the suprachiasmatic nuclei(Millman).The circadian cycles of children, adolescents, and adults are different. Adolescents sleep times are nearer midnight than that adults and young children, and wake times are later in the morning also. This is not because teenagers prefer to go to sleep later, but because of hormonal secretions. Melatonin is a hormone released in the human body during sleep by the pineal gland, which is located behind they eyes in the brain, and can therefore be used to determine when the circadian rhythms take effect during the twenty-four hour period. It was found that “nighttime peak melatonin secretion was shifted towards a later time in adolescents”(SOURCE). Preferring a later time of sleep is affected also by social factors: DO THIS? Due to the circadian rhythms explained above, teenagers tend to fall sleep later at night compared to young children and adults. They must also wake up early on weekdays in order to accommodate school times starting between 8:30 and 9:00 am. This leads to a deficiency in the amount of sleep achieved which must be compensated at another time, and for teenagers, that time is on the weekend. This sleep pattern is in contrast to that of nine to ten year olds’, where the amount they sleep on the weekends is about the same as the weekends’(Millman). Therefore, on weekends teenagers sleep til late in the morning to catch up on lost sleep, which actually increases poor academic performance, as studies have shown(Millman). MORE ON THIS! The main reason we are concerned with sleep deprivation in teenagers is because of the poor academic performance related to it. Because of early morning classes, students are not able to achieve sufficient sleep to mentally function at an optimum level. Students who do poorly may be due to the disruption of their circadian rhythms, as “less total sleep time [is] associated with daytime fatigue, inability to concentrate in school, and a tendency to doze off in class” (Wolfson 877). Another side-effect from lack of sleep is behavioural problems, including feelings of aggression and depression. Adolescents with sleep-deprivation show similar symptoms as adults having Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: “inability to stay focussed on a task, impulsivity, difficulty ‘sitting still’, and problems completing tasks” (National Sleep Foundation 4). As well, sleep-deprivation patterns throughout adolescence can lead to mood disturbances and an increase in the likelihood of depression in adulthood (Millman). Sleep can also indirectly affect people’s physical health, as it makes them more prone to injuries such as car accidents. Adolescents, especially, are more prone to these as they make up over “55% of fall-asleep crashes” (National Sleep Foundation 3). One solution to increasing the sleeping time of adolescents is to commence school at a later time, preferably near the afternoon. By achieving a sufficient amount of sleep, the performance levels of struggling teens could be improved, as “all students [perform] better in the afternoon than in the morning” (Hansen 1558) in tests. Also, as seen by studies done throughout high schools, “60% of children under the age of eighteen complained of tiredness and sleepiness during the day, and 15% of children admitted to falling asleep in school” (Georgios). If over half the student population in a high school complains of being sleepy, then steps must be taken to prevent this as the country’s economy must rely on these people in the future(LOGOS/PATHOS?/assuming?/fact?). Another solution is to shift the circadian rhythms of adolescents towards earlier sleep and wake-up times to not necessitate later classes. This could be done by prescribing melatonin treatments. Since melatonin is secreted in the human body during sleep, orally consuming it can produce sleep-like symptoms. Therefore, critics of later start times may argue that this would be a time-saving application, but the solution has a couple of downfalls. First, the amount of money put towards this program would be quite large, and this could be an initial turn-off for many, as one hundred tablets of melatonin cost about fifty-five dollars(Asiaweek). If provided by the federal government, in order to promote equality between students, the treatment would cost taxpayers quite a bit of money each year. If done privately, people who cannot buy the tablets would have a disadvantage for their teenagers, giving an unfair advantage to others, and bringing up ethical and moral issues for Canadians. Also, for its effects to remain constant, melatonin must be take repeatedly and after termination of treatment, “melatonin-induced phase advances [are] reversed and subjects [return] to being phase delayed”. Therefore, if not taken diligently each day, a variation of sleep-cycles would be witnessed with unknown consequences. As a long-term treatment, the effects of melatonin on humans have not been experimented on, and it would not be wise to go forward without further studies being funded by the government and research groups. Not only is melatonin an expensive treatment, it also has health effects that are not worth risking for a few hours of scheduling delays each day. The drug implicates the reproductive development in several species of animals, as it can “either stimulate or inhibit reproductive organs” (Asiaweek). While it is advantageous if the drug stimulates the gonads, it would be disadvantageous if the reverse occurred, as it would negatively affect the health of the person. Also, it has been hypothesized that since melatonin is being given orally, that the pineal gland would not have to perform its job and may even lose its function by the time adolescents become adults, leading to reliance on the pills for life(Asiaweek). To prevent the negative effects of sleep-deprivation it is a more cost-effective and healthier option to start school later in the day rather than administer a drug with unknown factors to adolescents. In conclusion, I would like to state that sleep-deprivation is a major concern for today’s adolescents, as present day school times do not coincide with their sleep cycles set internally by circadian rhythms. This affects their academic performance, as well as deteriorates their mental and physical health. While providing melatonin treatments may be useful, they do have downfalls, and more research must be done. In the meantime, a more simpler solution would be to delay classes until later in the morning, when the adolescent mind is more attentive and less geared towards sleeping.