Rapa 1

Corey Rapa
Professor McDermott
Psych 350
February 23, 2014
Reflection Response 1
1! "hou#h sleep can sometimes be o$erloo%e& in the &e$elopment from infancy throu#h
a&olescence, it is in fact $ery important 'hen (e compare the amount of sleep chil&ren ha$e
e$ery ni#ht (ith that of an a&ult there are ob$ious &ifferences, (hich inclu&es the fact that
instea& of one uninterrupte& perio& of rest chil&ren often ha$e multiple shorter rests in a &ay
"hou#h most probably &on)t *uestion this occurrence, there is a lot #oin# on behin& the scenes
+s a youn# infant #ro(s an& spen&s time a(a%e they see an& ta%e in an enormous amount of
information, (hich therefore re*uires ,ust as much ener#y to process "he article entitle& -leep
reinforces learnin# states that .the chil&ren)s e/traor&inary ability 0to #enerate more efficient
e/plicit %no(le&#e1 is lin%e& (ith the lar#e amount of &eep sleep they #et2 34ni$ersitaet
"5bin#en! +s &iscusse& in lecture, this &eep sleep refers to the fact that youn# infants spen&
almost half of the time they are asleep in R6M (hile a&ults only spen& about one thir& in that
sta#e
"he R6M, or Rapi& 6ye Mo$ement, sta#e of sleep is thou#ht to be important for
neuronal &e$elopment an& brain plasticity -ince a ne(born infant)s brain is not yet fully
&e$elope& this uninterrupte& sleep is essential in many areas, not ,ust in memory consoli&ation
'e can see this in the article 7aps Durin# -chool, (hich states .insufficient sleep in youn#
chil&ren may slo( lan#ua#e &e$elopment2 3Michael 8 9reus! 'hile these chil&ren are asleep
their brains are (or%in#, almost as much as they are (hen they)re a(a%e, in or&er to process as
Rapa 2
much information as possible an& ma%e it somethin# they can retrie$e later :o(e$er sleep isn)t
only beneficial for the min&, it)s also important for physical #ro(th "hou#h infants #ro( at a
stea&y pace &urin# &e$elopment, essential #ro(th hormones are release& more intensely after
passin# into &eep sleep "hus pro$in# that sleep is important not only as infants but also as (e
&e$elop into a&olescence
2! + 'ith all of the important thin#s that sleep nurtures, there are hea$y conse*uences that can
arise (hen face& (ith lac% of sleep "he article ;o to be& states that it has e$en been .foun& that
irre#ular be&times coul& &isrupt natural bo&y rhythms an& cause sleep &epri$ation, un&erminin#
brain maturation an& the ability to re#ulate certain beha$iours2 3<$onne =elly, 8ohn =elly, an&
+man&a -ac%er! 'hen face& (ith the &ilemma of :i#h -chool start time this an& se$eral other
pieces of information are %ey in un&erstan&in# (hy -chools shoul& start later 'ith all of the
e&ucational an& social aspects of :i#h -chool, most teena#ers are not able to #o to sleep until
late at ni#ht "hey are then force& to rise (ith the sun an& attempt to slu##ishly maneu$er their
classes in an en&less, sleep &epri$e& cycle +s &escribe& in class this sleep &epri$ation is $ery
&an#erous an& may e$en be the cause of (hy (e can see thin#s li%e stress, &epression, an/iety
an& emotional &ysre#ulation in our youth
"he article -leepless in +merica co$ers multiple pro$en &e$elopments re#ar&in# (hy
later school start times are beneficial, inclu&in# that .stu&ents ha& better atten&ance, &ecrease&
tar&iness, fe(er $isits to the school nurse > 0+n&1 moo& impro$ements (ere also note&2 38ohn
Cline! :o(e$er, this article states some of the possible ne#ati$e effects as (ell -ome of the
lar#est issues (oul& be relate& to the increase& traffic from the &elaye& arri$als at school, an&
more importantly ho( after school acti$ities (oul& be effecte& "hin#s li%e sports an& other
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e/tracurricular acti$ities that ta%e place once school is o$er (oul& be pushe& bac% later into the
e$enin#, (hich may force stu&ents to return home later than usual an& (oul& #i$e them less time
to complete home(or% :o(e$er, ? continue to a#ree (ith -leepless in +merica that .the
benefits out(ei#h the costs of ma%in# this chan#e2 38ohn Cline!
2! 9 ?f there (as a policy that &elaye& my hi#h school start time then ? fully belie$e that it
(oul&)$e influence& my (ell@bein# positi$ely "hou#h ? #ra&uate& hi#h school (ith a #oo& ;P+
an& (as able to #et into the 4ni$ersity that ? &esire&, there (ere times (hen ? (oul& #et
completely e/hauste& ? (oul& (a%e up before the sun rose in or&er to catch the school bus an& ?
(oul& spen& the entire &ay sittin# throu#h class almost fallin# asleep ?n or&er to try an& %eep up
(ith e$erythin# ? ha& to &o there (ere &ays that ? (oul& ta%e off of school as a .mental health
&ay2 +s the Aater -tart "imes article &escribes, .?nsufficient sleep causes lo(ere& ability to
thin%, learn, an& remember2 38oseph + 9uc%halt! an& sometimes that is e/actly (hat ? (oul&
feel "he information ,ust seeme& to be thro(n at me an& not bein# able to retain e$erythin# ?
(oul& (rite &o(n in class, ? (as force& to cram for tests the &ay before ? belie$e that ha$in# the
ability to stay in be& e$en an hour later e$ery mornin# (oul&)$e helpe& #reatly, an& it (oul&)$e
ta%en some of the stress out of #oin# to school e$ery mornin#