Discussion
In this part, we will provide a few ideas that can help you discuss the importance of sleep and how technology such as smartphones and tablets may affect how much sleep people get. Keep in mind that you are also invited to discuss the future implications of the current development. We will base our discussion on both the video clip and the text in your source material.
The importance of sleep
As the two texts from the source material reveal, sleep is extremely important when it comes to living a healthy and happy life.
For instance, the BBC article (Text II) provides information about the importance of the “deep sleep” phase and the “REM” phase. The “deep sleep” phase is extremely important because it allows the brain to recharge and store the memories of the day:
Deep sleep sounds restful, but during it our brains are actually working hard. One of the main things the brain is doing is moving memories from short-term storage into long-term storage, allowing us more short-term memory space for the next day. If you don't get adequate deep sleep then these memories will be lost.
If a person does not experience the “deep sleep” phase every day, they risk having a poorer memory, as “memories need to be consolidated within 24 hours of being formed”.
Then, the same article explains the importance of the “REM” phase in our sleep:
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How smartphones and tablets affect our sleep
The influence of smartphones and tablets on our sleep is explored in the BBC news video (Text I), which involves an interview with professor and psychologist Richard Wiseman.
When asked about the difference that smartphones, tablets, and computers make on our sleep schedule, Wiseman explains that their effect is twofold. On the one hand, the effect is “psychological” and “stimulating”, as people get excited when they check social media websites and watch videos right before they go to sleep. On the other hand, Wiseman states that their effect is also “physical” because of the way the brain is influenced by the light of those devices. The blue light of the electronic devices “suppresses a sleep hormone called melatonin”, which is “absolutely essential for drifting off to sleep”.
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Future implications
The final part of the discussion regarding the importance of sleep deals with pondering on future implications of the current development. When you discuss the future implications, we advise you to look at information found in both the article and the video clip, as well as on what you already know about the importance of sleep.
First of all, note that both the article and the video clip have the purpose of drawing attention to the negative effects caused by the lack of sleep.
In the BBC video clip (Text I), professor and psychologist Richard Wiseman believes that sleeplessness is “catastrophic”. He explains that two surveys have been taken that show how the number of sleep-deprived people has gone up to 20% in a single year.
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Comment
In your discussion about the importance of sleep, you are invited to analyse and comment upon the following quote found in the BBC article (Text II): “…we live in a culture where people are encouraged to think of sleep as a luxury - something you can easily cut back on”.
The quote is connected to the modern opinion that, nowadays, there are far more important things to do than sleep. As the introduction of the article states, “the amount of sleep people get has, on average, declined over the years”.
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