Teens and Sleep

Beep.

Snooze. Five minutes later. Beep Snooze. Five more minutes later. Beep snooze, and so on.

That’s what most teenagers go through when waking up in the morning for school, forcing themselves to get out of bed. Why force? They have to force themselves because they’re too tired from not getting enough sleep the night before. Teens should get at least 9-10 hours of sleep each night. Most teens only get four or at the most five hours of sleep a night. At 9 or 10 at night teens insist that they aren’t tired.

And most of the time they’re telling the truth. (Carskadon, 2002) Says that Teens body’s clock shift. Meaning that when they were younger their bodies could stay up late into the night and sleep late into the morning. But that clock eventually crashes when teens get older because of early mornings, sports, clubs and other activities teens do. Teenagers that are sleep deprived have many consequences because of their lack of sleep. It messes up their learning.

They’re tired and won’t put effort. And if they do, they forget what they learn because they are tired. (Carskadon, 2002) Lack of sleep also takes a physical toll on teens. Growth hormones and sex hormones are active when we sleep, so if teens AREN’T getting sleep, their growth hormones AREN’T working. Without sleep their hormones are disrupted. So with lack of sleep, hormones aren’t doing their job.

Some studies also show that sleep helps the immune system. So that’s why many people who don’t sleep get sick. Sleep can also interfere with teens emotions; they become moody or sometimes might not show any emotions at all. (Carskadon, 2002) Sleep is an important thing in teen’s lives. Yes there’s school work, clubs and family. But teens also have to get enough sleep to be able to manage their day.

A suggestion is to go to sleep earlier. Then you can be a happy, healthy, fun loving teen.