I distinctly remember how tired I was as a teenager. Between homework and extracurricular things, I just couldn't get enough sleep some days. I'd nap every single day when I got home from school. It seems like things haven't changed much since then for other teens, either.
Of course, it's because teens actually need more sleep than adults do. Getting them the sleep they need hasn't been as easy as it ought to be, however.
Studies and polls have shown that, for adolescents, sleep deprivation is an epidemic. Teens are sleepwalking through their days, and in many cases, sleeping when they should be taking notes.
Many parents think that screens are the reason teens don't sleep enough, and there's evidence to prove that they don't help.
And again, there's certainly evidence that teens are being pulled in too many directions.
However, regardless of the reasons, the effects of all that sleep deprivation can greatly affect a developing brain: Inability to concentrate, poor grades, drowsy-driving, anxiety, depression, and so on.
And up to now, solutions haven't been coming out of the woodwork. Those heavy workloads are kind of a fact of life.
And turning off screens earlier is a good idea in theory, but not necessarily realistic.
Of course, it wasn't as straightforward as it sounds. Starting classes later meant rearranging bus schedules, changing extracurricular activity schedules, and getting parents on board. It took a year to figure it all out.
The students involved in the study wore activity monitors on their wrists that the researchers collected data from. Their findings were exactly what they hoped for: The teens used that extra time to get more sleep.
Average sleep on school nights went from six hours and 50 minutes to seven hours and 24 minutes. That's still less than the recommended eight to 10 hours, but definitely an improvement.
The study was at least partly worked into a biology class, and after the start times were moved ahead, grades for the kids in that class improved by 4.5%.
Absences and late arrivals also decreased at one of the schools.
The question is, will the momentum from this study actually catch on, or will those few areas trying it out be the only ones to do so? Time will tell!
