Teens T Live in a Different Time Zone Biologically So How Can Parents Help? by Kimberly Blaker 12
chesapeakefamily.com
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JULY/AUG 2022
een sleep habits are an ongoing frustration and battle for countless parents. Many teens stay up into the wee hours of the night. Then they struggle to wake up during the week for school and sleep through the day on weekends. But sleep is crucial to adolescents’ well-being. School-age kids between ages 6 and 13 need nine to eleven hours of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Teens, from ages 14 to 17, need eight to ten hours. Yet, studies find only a small percentage of teens are getting the necessary sleep. The problem, as experts point out, is that during puberty, teens’ circadian rhythm shifts. In earlier childhood, kids begin feeling sleepy around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. But during adolescence, sleepiness doesn’t set in until around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. This is called ‘sleep phase delay’ and is likely caused by a delay in the release of the body’s melatonin. Sleep phase delay, however, isn’t the only reason teens don’t get enough sleep. Increased demands on their time, ranging from additional household responsibilities and homework to extracurricular activities, socializing with friends, and media use also contribute to teens’ shortage of sleep. So what’s a parent to do? In a perfect world, all high schools would adjust the school day to begin and end at least an hour or so later each day. This would make it easier for teens to get the sleep they need and would benefit students significantly.
