“He’s sleeping like a baby!” I always found that phrase ironic when I had newborns. Newborns are sweet, precious bundles who steal your heart – and your sleep! Newborns wake up every 2 hours in the beginning. “Sleeping like a baby” is a misnomer. The accurate phrase should be “Sleeping like a teenager!”
Getting a sleepy adolescent out of bed can be a point of frustration and conflict for parents. Many conclude that their teens are being lazy or rebellious when they cling to sleep as they do. But this is not the case. Sleep studies conducted by Stanford and Brown universities show changes in brain chemistry affects the circadian rhythm in teens. At puberty there is a delay in the release of melatonin, the neurochemical needed to feel sleepy, resulting in adolescents simply not being able to fall asleep until much later than they had as children. Studies also show that adolescents require 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep each night. These facts mean that getting up early for school can be very difficult since most secondary and middle schools start at 7:20. When most teens cannot fall asleep until 11 or later, the conclusion is that they are not sleeping enough. Day after day of not getting adequate sleep can affect learning and creativity. Adolescence is a time when most struggle with dealing with stress, controlling their emotions, self-confidence, and irritability and lack of sleep only makes these struggles more difficult. Also, sleep deprivation inhibits the immune system and is a safety concern as teens are becoming drivers.
A website entitled “Adolescent Sleep” hosted by Stanford offers these tips for proper sleep hygiene for teenagers:
- Stay away from caffeine and nicotine which are both stimulants after noon. Also avoid alcohol which can disrupt sleep.
- Avoid heavy studying or computer games before bed, they can be arousing.
- Avoid arguing with your adolescent just before bedtime.
- Avoid trying to sleep with a computer or TV flickering in the room.
- Avoid bright light in the evening, but open blinds or turn on lights as soon as the morning alarm goes off to aid awakening.
- Let them sleep in on the weekend, but no more than 2 or 3 hours later than their usual awakening time or it will disrupt their body clock
One advantage of homeschooling for adolescents is that their schedule can be structured to better fit their sleep needs. Their learning day can begin later, allowing the 9 hours of sleep their bodies require. Learning can be planned for later at night when they are more alert naturally. Having a day structured with their sleep in mind can benefit teens academically, physically, and emotionally during this formative phase of their development.
Many families choose to homeschool to better meet academic needs, but considering adolescent sleep issues, homeschooling could be a way to better meet this important physical need.
Copyright © 2013 J. Hoffman / GSN (NV)
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Email: JHoffman@GlobalStudentNetwork.com
Sources: www.stanford.edu/~dement/adolescent.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from/sleep.html