I agree that media affects our sleep because I often find myself in the same situation. I will tell myself that I am going to bed at 9:30 or so but I will end up staying up until 10-10:30 because the t.v. is on. I also find it harder myself to fall asleep when there is a glow from my cell phone charging because I know it is on and thus want to check it, even if I know that there will be nothing new on it.

 Media Use Can Lead To Sleeping Problems/Disorders

            How well do you sleep at night? If you don’t sleep well, how many of you are guilty of using the media after hours? Many studies have been conducted, and a majority of them show that the media affects sleep. Media use at night can lead to sleeping problems, or even sleeping disorders.

            But, according to the article: Children’s Media Use and Sleep Problems: Issues and Unanswered Questions (Click: Issue Brief.pdf), the content of media that can keep a child up at night, is both “ modifiable and manageable” (Jordan Barbara). Some people argue that they use a TV as a method to calm their child before bedtime. A study performed in 1999, interviewed several elementary school children to see how many of them used a TV to help them prepare for bed. The results of the study showed that ¾ of the students used a TV to help them prepare for bedtime. Some experts argue that it’s the content of a show that keeps a child up. Other experts argue that some shows can be used to help induce sweet dreams to younger viewers. Jordan Barbara, Children’s Media Use and Sleep Problems: Issues and Unanswered Questions.

            According to the article: Late Night Talk Text Causing Sleep Problems, most children use the media in secrecy at night. “ Most parents are clueless to knowing what their child does after bed time hours” (Mehmet C. Oz & Michael F. Roizen).  Some night time activities include: searching the internet, using social websites, texting friends, and playing computer games. The average child spends three hours a day in front of a screen, and can secretly compact more time into those three hours. According to Susan Lamontagne, average media use has spiked from 6 hours and 21 minutes in 2004, to 7 hours and 38 minutes in 2009. She also says that media multitaskers secretly fit in 10 hours and 45 minutes a day. (Late Night Talk Text Causing Child’s Sleep Problems by Mehemet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen)

            Light sources and other random sounds can keep a child up and alert. According to the article: Late Night Text Talk Causing Kids’ Sleep Problems, Anything as a little as: a sound from a TV, the light from a TV, the light from a computer, or even the beeping form an incoming text message, can keep a child up. According to the article: Children’s Media Use and Sleep Problems: Issues and Unanswered Questions, sounds from a violent TV program can keep a child up. This may even lead to something as dramatic as sleep walking. They also said that any electronic device that generates a light source can disrupt sleep. Even something as small as leaving the light on in the hallway can affect sleep. (Jordan Barbara) (Mehemet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen)

            Many studies have been performed, and most of them show that using the media heavily, can lead to many mood/ learning disorders, or bad grades in school. According to the article: Daily Media Use Among Children and Teens Up Drastically From Five Years Ago, heavy media users have continued to do poorer in school. Heavy media users tend to use the media for an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day. They’ve drastically increased their usage time over the last five years. Forty-seven percent of heavy media users said that they get fair to poor grades in school. Most of the users tend to get C’s or lower. As where light consumers (those who use the media less than three hours a day), reported only 23% receiving fair to poor grades. A theory of why media usage has gone up so much in the last five years is the fact that technology has evolved and allowed us to use the media on the go. Items such as Ipods and cell phones have significantly increased the amount of time a person spends using the media. Those who reported getting lower grades in school complained that they received fair to poor sleep.

            According to the article: Grown-Up Problems Start At Bedtime by: Andrea Petersen, sleep problems at night can lead to a variety of mood disorders. These disorders include: depression, anxiety, and angry behaviors. Lack of sleep can also lead to: obesity, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse. These are all side effects of what poor sleep can do.

            In conclusion, something as small as an incoming text message alert, the light from a computer, or even the sound of a TV, can all affect sleep. Poor sleep at night can lead to many behavioral/ learning disorders, or even obesity. The biggest factor to blame for all of these problems is the fact the media can lead to sleeping problems. The media is also always around and is nearly impossible to avoid. If you’re suffering from poor sleep, do something as simple as turning off your cell phone and see what happens. But most of all, make sure that you’re sleeping in a quiet and peaceful environment.