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According to studies, teenagers need about 8 ½ hours to 9 ¼ hours of sleep each night to be able to function at their best the next day. However, most teenagers tend to arrive school the next day tired and sleepy. According to one research, sleep deprivation in the youth is caused by social media.

The research, published in the Journal of Youth Studies, found that one out of five teenagers wakes up in the middle of the night to check or send messages on social media. This routine is one of the reasons why teenagers are sleep deprived, which leads to teenagers going to school tired and sleepy.

A total of 900 students between the ages of twelve and fifteen were recruited and asked to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire asks the students on how frequently they wake up at night to check on social media and what time they usually go to bed and the time they wake up the next day.

The researchers also asked the students how happy they were in regards to various aspects of their lives like school, friendship, and school.

Results show that one of five of the students who participated wake up at night just to send or check messages on social media, and they are mostly teenage girls. In addition, those teenagers who wake up at night to use social media or those who wake up late the next day are three times mostly likely to say they are tired or sleepy.

Moreover, these sleep-deprived teenagers, on average, are less happy compared to non-sleep deprived teenagers.

The use of social media has disrupted the routine of teenagers in regards to sleep and rest. The researchers see that continuous sleep deprivation in teenagers due to social media use will affect not only the wellbeing of the teenagers but also their happiness.

Sleep deprivation also causes teenagers to lose concentration in school and affect their learning abilities. Appearance-wise, sleep deprivation can cause the onset of pimples or acne rampant in teenagers.