[I] Why is it that many teenagers have the energy to play computer games until late at night but can't find the energy to get out of bed in time for school? [II] According to a new report, today's generation of children are in danger of getting so little sleep that they are putting their mental and physical health at risk. [III] According to medical experts, one in five youngsters gets anything between two and five hours' sleep a night less than their parents did at their age. [IV]
The connection between sleep deprivation and lapses in memory, impaired reaction time and poor concentration is well established. Research has shown that losing as little as half an hour's sleep a night can have profound effects on how children perform the next day. A good night's sleep is also crucial for teenagers because it is while they are asleep that they release a hormone that is essential for their 'growth spurt' (the period during teenage years when the body grows at a rapid rate).
So why aren't teenagers getting enough sleep? Some experts suggest the presence of televisions, computers, and mobile phones in children's bedrooms may be to blame. As new childhood pre-sleep activities have become more widespread, so more traditional ones such as reading have declined.
Research has shown that teenagers have different sleep patterns from younger children and adults. One important change that occurs at night time is increased levels of the 'darkness hormone' melatonin, which helps us to fall asleep. Most adults start to produce melatonin at about 10 p.m. When teenagers were studied in a sleep laboratory, researchers discovered that they only began to produce the hormone at 1 am. It is possible that this delay in melatonin production is caused by the behaviour of teenagers. Playing with electronic gadgets late at night stimulates the brain and exposes the teenagers to bright lights which could cause the later release of melatonin.
Issues surrounding sleep - who needs how much and when - are usually given short shrift in efforts to improve student achievement. But modern brain researchers say it is time that more schools woke up to the biological facts and started lessons at a time better suited to their teenage students.
(Adapted from Solutions 2nd Edition)