Teenagers need more sleep

The high school student next to me on the bus this morning was falling asleep. We were zooming onto 94 East, heading toward St. Paul.

The sun was just rising over the Mississippi River. It might have been the heat blasting onto him, or the motion of the bus. His eyes closed. His head wagged forward.

As we pulled into downtown St. Paul, I started to worry he was going to sleep through his stop.

I nudged him and asked quietly, "Do you have to get off downtown?"

He looked at me blurrily and replied, "Yes."

Then, "Thank you."

I started thinking of my own son, who slept through his alarm this morning. Twice.

As a high school senior, he's hitting crunch time. This week he has several tests, an essay, and a senior recital.

Research tells us that teenagers need nine to ten hours of sleep per night.

But my son only gets seven hours, sometimes six.

As he jumps on his bike at 7:15 a.m. for an icy two-mile ride to school, I've always counted on the fact that the cold air and physical activity will wake him up.

According to The Nemours Foundation, an organization which supports clinical research for children and teens, a teenager's body programs itself to stay up later at night.

But that body needs to sleep later in the morning, too. When school starts at 8:00 a.m. (I was on the bus with that teenager at 7:30 a.m.), a student is bound to be tired for at least the first two hours.

The National Sleep Foundation says it's important for parents to enforce sleep patterns, especially with teenagers.

Getting enough sleep is the best thing teenagers can do for themselves.

Sleep deprivation is a national epidemic, according to The National Sleep Foundation.

Find out how much sleep a teenager needs.

And wake that kid up on the bus, so he doesn't miss his stop....

Resources:

Sleep Deprivation Undermines Kids' Health, Happiness, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Sleeping Habits of Teenagers, Kaboose

Risky Teen Sleep Habits Discussed, The Paly Voice

Clocks Spring Ahead, Bodies Stay Behind, Asbury Park Press

How much sleep does your teenager need? Kid's Health

Sleep Deprivation is a National Epidemic Wellspan Health

Some other moms and I were talking about the time change. One of them said that one of the reasons that the clocks changing thing persists, despite its negative impact on school kids' sleep, has something to do with golf - that legislators who golf like the effects of the clock change -

I didn't really get what she was talking about but there you go.

Several years ago State Rep Matt Entenza introduced legislation at the capital to make later start times for high schoolers - it had a lot to do with juggling the school bus schedules. I always thought that was great law-making-in-action. But as for great parenting-in-action, now that I'm with my fifth, and last, teenager in the house (I hope), I still am mostly on the losing side of the effort to "enforce" decent bedtimes. And having it coincide with MY age-related hormonally-challenged sleep disturbance issues, it can make for some pretty cranky people in the family.

I have been noticing that in our household our moods are directly related to how much sleep we're getting.

When we each get the kind of sleep we need, we are a much more harmonious family.

In times of stress, such as exam time, getting enough sleep is KEY to success.

I have to constantly remind myself of this when I'm working on deadline and trying to manage family affairs at the same time.

Nanci Olesen

This was inspiring and inforamtive . . . I always look forward to reading and listening to Nanci -- she seems to address my concerns in an intimate and knowledgeable and accessibe way. I'm grateful to have her in my life.