“Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year olds” – JoJo Jensen
Teenagers are often described as having a sense of invincibility. In their minds, nothing bad can happen to them because they are young. This lends to risky behaviour, poor decision-making, and a lot of hard lessons. Among those lessons is understanding the need for a good night’s rest and proper sleep hygiene.
A Different Rhythm
The human brain and body works on a twenty-four hour circadian rhythm, which is aligned with daylight. However, there are certain exceptions. For example, visually-impaired or blind individuals do not follow the same rhythm, and often experience disrupted sleep patterns as a result. Teenagers can also experience disrupted rhythms as a result of puberty and biology, but also as a result of habits.
In many cases, adolescents accumulate what researchers and experts refer to as a “sleep debt”. A sleep debt is the accumulated loss of sleep over an extended period. These are the hours of sleep that simply cannot be regained and can have a lasting impact, especially during peak developmental periods like infancy or adolescence.
How to Help
Make connections. Parents can set boundaries for their children, but the more effective tool is education. For some kids, knowing why they have to do something helps them adopt the habit as their own. The best way to do this is to tie the knowledge about sleep to their goals. Most teens want to perform well at school, in sports, or in their hobbies and interests. In addition to communicating that successful athletes need recovery, that to effectively study and perform well on a test, and to be alert enough in their daily activities requires the right amount of sleep, try to see how sleep factors into their plans for achieving their goals.
Avoid sleep debt. The best way to do this is to get the recommended amount of sleep per night (9-10 hours for teens) and to try to gently remind teens that sleep routine is hugely important. Many reasons for which students choose not to sleep during the academic year are because they lose track of time with technology or nap when they get home from school, but also because they choose to cram for tests the night before. Cramming is an ineffective way of learning; it rarely lends to better results as the person does not retain a large amount of information in a short time and then goes into the exam poorly prepared and tired. Fatigue impairs attention and puts the student at a greater disadvantage than if they hadn’t studied at all and had gotten a full night’s rest.
Ownership. Instead of imposing bedtimes for an increasingly autonomous individual, have them be part of the process of figuring out what works. They may make some mistakes through the process, but they can learn from their experiences if prompted to reflect upon them. The more they own their decision, the more likely they are to follow through.
Routines. Helping your teen to establish routines for school, extracurriculars, and homework time can help to eliminate last minute late night cram sessions or assignment blitzes. Getting work done at the right time can help prevent late night stressing out over incomplete assignments or studying.
Environment. Managing your teen’s environment can help to improve sleep habits. Here are a few tips.
- Have them store their electronics in a separate room from their bedroom. This can eliminate late night texting or browsing, which can stimulate the brain and delay sleep.
- Keep a cool and quiet room.
- Use an alarm clock (not the phone) to wake up and place the alarm clock on the other side of the room.
- Help your teen plan for 9-10 hours of sleep per night.
Resources:
UCLA Sleep Centre: https://www.uclahealth.org/sleepcenter/sleep-and-teens
ASAP Science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVQlcxiQlzI
Healthy Learning MTL 