5 minute read
The Importance of Sleep
Are you a parent of a teen? Do you find yourself asking: Why is my teen staying up so late? Why is my teen not waking up? In the fall of 2023, Lisa L. Lewis joined ParentWiser to discuss the importance of sleep for teenagers. She also explained why teens go to bed late, wake up late, and often get less sleep than they need. She also suggested strategies to help teens develop better sleep patterns. Below is a summary of what Lisa talked about during her ParentWiser presentation.
Why is Sleep Important for Teens?
Sleep is vital for people of all ages. Teens are in an important physical and brain development stage, and sleep is especially critical. When teens sleep, their brains process and store the information they learned that day. They are also removing unused brain cells and increasing connectivity between the ones they use to make them faster and stronger. Removing unused brain cells and increasing connections in the brain are multi-year processes from adolescence to early adulthood. The result is that young adults can use their brains to focus and make good decisions. Sleep also affects how the teen grows and how quickly they can recover from injuries.
In addition to the importance of sleep for a teen’s brain and physical development, it can also affect their mental health. When teens do not get enough sleep, they have less control over their emotions. Sleep deprivation also worsens mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and suicide risk.
Why do Teens Get Less Sleep?
The recommended time for teens to sleep each night is 8-10 hours. In reality, many teens get fewer hours of sleep. The primary reasons for less sleep during the teen years are:
Humans experience a shift in their circadian rhythm and a later release of melatonin. Circadian rhythm is your body’s internal clock. Melatonin is a hormone that regulates the sleep and wake cycle. The shift in both of these leads to a biological change in teens. They naturally fall asleep later than both young children and adults.
Teens are often overloaded with schoolwork and activities. There might be less than 8-10 hours a day available when they can sleep.
How teens are using technology. Many teens are continuing to use technology late into the night. The time they could be sleeping is used on technology. Online activity is engaging and stimulating, which does not help them wind down to sleep. There is also the presence of blue light. This is part of the light spectrum that makes you feel more alert and can delay the release of melatonin.
What are the Effects of Sleep Deprivation?
When teens do not get enough sleep, it can negatively affect their brain development, physical development, mental health, and school performance. When teens are sleepdeprived, it can be like they are sleepwalking through school. It can affect their learning by making it difficult to acquire, retain, and retrieve information. It can also affect school performance by making it difficult for them to follow directions, get along with others, and handle stress. Remember: Better sleep leads to better performance!
What are Some Strategies to Help Teens Get Better Sleep?
Even though teens face challenges with getting enough sleep, 8-10 hours each night, families can use specific strategies to encourage and support healthy sleep habits.
Strategy #1: Evaluate the Teen’s Activities and Commitments
Families should think about whether the teen has too many things to do. They should look at the teen’s time commitments over a 24-hour period. Write down what they are doing, the anticipated time needed for homework, and time commitments for activities, clubs, and jobs. If there is no 8-10 window for the teen to sleep, the family might need to work with the teen to re-evaluate choices. And then, kids withdraw and go to their friends instead of going to their parents.
Strategy #2: Develop Best Practices for Technology Use
Technology is engrained and embedded in our lives, especially for teens who often use it in their social lives. We cannot just tell the teen to stop using technology. Some best practices for technology use at night include:
Log off devices one hour before bedtime.
Move technology devices out of the bedrooms at night. One idea is to set up a central charging station in the house where all devices go before bedtime.
Disconnect before bed.
Strategy #3: Encourage Wind-Down Routines
Work with your teen to develop a routine that helps them relax before bed. Since each teen is different, help them find what relaxes them. Encourage your teen to come up with their own wind-down routine.
Strategy #4: Pay Attention to Naps and Weekend Sleep
Help your teen become more aware of how naps and weekend sleep can affect their sleep cycle. Naps, either too late in the day or too long, can make it hard for the teen to fall asleep at night. Weekend sleep can disrupt the regular sleep routine.
Strategy #5: Make Sleep a Family Priority
Be a role model for your teen! If we expect them to follow best sleep practices, we should follow them, too. Talk to your teen about how you value your own sleep. Show them that you have your own routine to relax before bed.
Lisa’s final advice during her presentation was: “There is nothing we do better as a result of being sleep-deprived!” If you would like to learn more and listen to her full ParentWiser presentation, visit https://parentwiser.org
Lisa L. Lewis, MS, is a freelance journalist who covers the intersection of parenting, public health, and education. She played a key role in California’s new healthy school start times law, the first of its kind in the nation. Lewis is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, TIME, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and Your Teen, among others. She’s a parent to two teens, who inspire much of what she writes about.
