The National Sleep Foundation (yes this is a thing), released an article discussing the importance of sleep for teenagers. It stated that teens need between 8.5 and 9.5 hours of sleep in order to regenerate their brain, and feel alert the next day. That amount of sleep is obviously unrealistic for many people due to extracurriculars. If a person wakes up at about 6:30 each morning, they need to go to bed at around 9:30 to get the recommended amount of sleep. Now, I am typing this at 9:35 so it looks like I too am going to succumb to the norms of teenage sleep habits. Teens tend to try to stay up late during the weekend and this can seriously affect their brain's sleep patterns, causing fatigue.
The study also says that it is important for teens to put away electronics at least an hour before they go to bed, as it could be detrimental to their sleep pattern. This again is extremely unrealistic in this day and age, as nearly everything in an adolescent's life revolves around that little bright rectangle.
I personally believe that these studies and recommendations show how our society is falling apart. It is simply unhealthy for developing minds to be staring at bright screens for the majority of the day, and now, of all things, elementary schools and middle schools are requiring pupils to do schoolwork on iPads. This simply feeds the vicious cycle which we cannot seem to escape. Our society needs to slow down the technological process for the benefit of our world. Kids should be kids! They should be out on the streets playing stickball, not sitting inside not talking to one another. If we neglect to nurture the development of interactions by kids, then these kids will lose a sense of humanity. I feel like our country thrived when our technological advances were for the necessity of the people, not the wants of the people.
In twenty years, kids will be unhealthily developed because of lack of quality sleep, and dependency on technology. Although we are lengthening the average lifespan through scientific advances, we seem to be shortening that span through unhealthy exposure to unnecessary items.
Technology seems to bring us back to the problem with consumerism, and the dependency on it by Americans. If one travels to impoverished countries, one would find mostly happy citizens with a small amount of material goods. These people have learned that the key to happiness is through human interaction and family, they have mastered something that America will never master, the idea that life is good without goods. Granted many of said countries would readily accept first world goods, but they do not need these goods. Also, the only reason these countries may have low life expectancies is because of crime and health reasons.
The study also says that it is important for teens to put away electronics at least an hour before they go to bed, as it could be detrimental to their sleep pattern. This again is extremely unrealistic in this day and age, as nearly everything in an adolescent's life revolves around that little bright rectangle.
I personally believe that these studies and recommendations show how our society is falling apart. It is simply unhealthy for developing minds to be staring at bright screens for the majority of the day, and now, of all things, elementary schools and middle schools are requiring pupils to do schoolwork on iPads. This simply feeds the vicious cycle which we cannot seem to escape. Our society needs to slow down the technological process for the benefit of our world. Kids should be kids! They should be out on the streets playing stickball, not sitting inside not talking to one another. If we neglect to nurture the development of interactions by kids, then these kids will lose a sense of humanity. I feel like our country thrived when our technological advances were for the necessity of the people, not the wants of the people.
In twenty years, kids will be unhealthily developed because of lack of quality sleep, and dependency on technology. Although we are lengthening the average lifespan through scientific advances, we seem to be shortening that span through unhealthy exposure to unnecessary items.
Technology seems to bring us back to the problem with consumerism, and the dependency on it by Americans. If one travels to impoverished countries, one would find mostly happy citizens with a small amount of material goods. These people have learned that the key to happiness is through human interaction and family, they have mastered something that America will never master, the idea that life is good without goods. Granted many of said countries would readily accept first world goods, but they do not need these goods. Also, the only reason these countries may have low life expectancies is because of crime and health reasons.
I think that this is a very salient argument. If we continue to thrive on technology the general health will decrease. The most interesting point that I think was brought up was that technological advances were beneficial when for the necessity, instead of the want, of the people. I think that touches on a bigger issue of what people of today value.
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