Technology Invades Your Bedroom and Steals Your... ZZZZ - The UpStream

Technology Invades Your Bedroom and Steals Your... ZZZZ

posted Sunday Mar 13, 2011 by Jon Wurm

Technology Invades Your Bedroom and Steals Your... ZZZZ

This week I came across some news that was not shocking but still disturbing. The National Sleep Foundation came out of hibernation this week to let us know that there was a culprit sneaking into our bedrooms and stealing our precious sleep. My suspect list consisted of the NFS, since they seemed to be well rested, the underpants gnomes and perhaps the most disturbing of all, your cell phone. My research indicates that underpants gnomes are in-fact not real and while still suspicious, the NFC doesn't seem to be responsible either. This leaves only one plausible suspect, the one you would most likely suspect, since it knows all your secrets and wakes you up repeatedly at night... your cell phone.

Protect yourself by hitting the break for more details.

According to Russel Rosenberg, the well rested Vice Chairman of the NSF,

Unfortunately, cell phones and computers, which make our lives more productive and enjoyable, may be abused to the point that they contribute to getting less sleep at night leaving millions of Americans functioning poorly the next day.

A disturbing NSF study showed that 95% of its participants used electronics one hour or less before going to sleep. This study also suggests that cell phones aren't the only problem. Florescent and other artificial lighting can heighten your senses and inhibit the release of melatonin, which is a hormone that the body produces naturally to help you sleep.

After examining the problem further, Charles Czeisler from Harvard Medical School determined that baby boomers are guilty of watching television before going to sleep and the younger generations, ages 13-29, played video games regularly before going to sleep. Sixty one percent also admitted to using laptops before going to sleep. In fact, Czeisler stated,

I am the most concerned about how little sleep 13-18 years are getting. Kids today are getting an hour and a half to two hours less sleep per night than they did a century ago. That means that they are losing about 50 hours of sleep per month.

The experts recommend that teenagers get 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep per night but the average is 7 hours and 26 minutes. Also one in 10 kids are awoken by text messages after they go to sleep. While these facts may be upsetting, the root of the problem can best be summed up by Czeisler,

Technology has invaded the bedroom.

Indeed she has and technology is a fickle mistress that does not like to be discarded. The only solution I can come up with is to play my Sega Dreamcast right before I go to sleep. Do you have any ideas?

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