“As children age, they naturally develop a delay in their onset of sleep, or their sleep phase. It’s part of natural maturation. And kids get to sleep around 10 o’clock or even 11 o’clock into the later teenage years.”
– Jeffrey Durmer, M.D., explaining one reason why teenagers tend to stay up so late at night
If your teen is having trouble staying awake, a new study reports that a later start to the school day – by even 30 minutes – increases alertness and reduces depression. Teenagers are simply not getting enough sleep.
For 17-year-old Bobby, a typical weekday starts at 6:30, when the alarm rings. Then after a 7-hour school day, there’s an afternoon football practice, then an evening workout. Once he’s home, there’s dinner, homework, a chat with a friend, some time to watch some television, and some time online. “Typically during the week I’m not in bed till 11:30, 12 even later,” he says.
It all adds up to far less than the 9 hours of sleep doctors recommend. “Like 9 hours of sleep is unheard of unless it’s on the weekend,” he says.
He’s not alone.
According to the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of national youth behavior, just 30.9 percent of students surveyed had eight or more hours of sleep on an average school night. And researchers at Hasbro Children’s Hospital report that starting the school day just 30 minutes later can help, allowing an average of 45 minutes more sleep each night.
“I stay up till 12 o’clock or 1, and I miss a whole bunch of sleep and I don’t have time to recover from it,” says 17-year-old Jason.
Experts believe sleep deprivation may contribute to depression and behavior problems, and hinder performance in school.
“What we do know that as you continue to sleep deprive someone, their neurocognitive abilities, their ability to perform tasks, to use their memory, goes down,” says Jeffrey Durmer, M.D. Sleep Specialist, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
“Well I haven’t been doing as well with my grades as I used to,” says Jason.
“I do sometimes fall asleep in class cause I’m always tired,” Jackson.
Experts say one way to get kids to bed earlier is to avoid the bright lights of television and computer screens close to bedtime… and also help your kids figure out what’s important.
“One realistic thing parents can do is work with their kids to prioritize and limit their activities. And try not to push it all the way into the middle of the night,” says Dr. Durmer.
What We Need To Know
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2006 Sleep in America poll, more than one quarter of high school students fall asleep in class, and experts have been able to tie lost sleep to poorer grades. Lack of sleep also damages teens’ ability to do their best in athletics.
Slowed responses and concentration from lack of sleep don’t just affect school or sports performance, though. More than half of teens surveyed reported that they have driven a car drowsy over the past year and 15% of students in the 10th to 12th grades drive drowsy at least once a week. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration estimates that more than 100,000 accidents, 40,000 injuries, and 1,500 people are killed in the U.S. every year in crashes caused by drivers who are simply tired. Young people under the age of 25 are far more likely to be involved in drowsy driving crashes.
A study performed by researchers at Stanford University found that teenagers require approximately one to two hours more sleep than 9- and 10-year-olds, who only require about eight hours of sleep. This goes against the school of thought that allows older kids to stay up later. Parents may want to be on the lookout for the following things, which could be caused from sleep deprivation:
- Difficulty waking in the morning
- Irritability in the afternoon
- Falling asleep during the day
- Oversleeping on the weekend
- Having difficulty remembering or concentrating
- Waking up often and having trouble going back to sleep
As the lives of children seem to be getting busier, their sleeping habits may be one of the first things impacted. Sleep, though being something that often gets sacrificed, is actually one of the most important things in a child’s life. Here are some suggestions about sleep:
- Sleep is as important as food and air. Quantity and quality are very important. Most people need between seven-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half hours of uninterrupted sleep. If you want to press the snooze alarm in the morning you are not getting the sleep you need. This could be due to not enough time in bed, external disturbances or a sleep disorder.
- Keep regular hours. Try to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day. Getting up at the same time is most important. Getting bright light, like the sun, when you get up will also help. Try to go to bed only when you are sleepy. Bright light in the morning at a regular time should help you feel sleepy at the same time every night.
- Stay away from stimulants like caffeine. This will help you get deep sleep, which is most refreshing. If you take any caffeine, take it in the morning. Avoid all stimulants in the evening, including chocolate, caffeinated sodas and caffeinated teas. They will delay sleep and increase awakenings during the night.
- Use the bed just for sleeping. Avoid watching television, using laptops, cell phones or even reading in bed. Bright light from these activities and subject matter may inhibit sleep. If it helps to read before sleeping, make sure you use a very small wattage bulb to read. A 15-watt bulb should be enough.
- Avoid bright light around the house before bed. Using dimmer switches in living rooms and bathrooms before bed can be helpful. Dimmer switches can be set to maximum brightness for morning routines.
- Don’t stress if you feel you are not getting enough sleep. It will just make matters worse. Know you will sleep eventually.
- Avoid exercise near bedtime. No exercise at least three hours before bed.
- Don’t go to bed hungry. Have a light snack, but avoid a heavy meal before bed.
- Bedtime routines are helpful for good sleep.
- Avoid looking at the clock if you wake up in the middle of the night. It can cause anxiety.
- If you can’t get to sleep for over 30 minutes, get out of bed and do something boring in dim light till you are sleepy.
- Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature.
- If you have problems with noise in your environment, you can use a white noise generator. A fan will work.
Resources
- How Much Sleep do Teens Need?
- National Sleep Foundation
- Shuteye information on Insomnia
- Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
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