Teens and sleep...if you have teenagers and it seems like they sleep the day away, the reason is simple.....they need it. The American Academy of Pediatrics just released a new study that says older students, those in high school, are not getting enough sleep and that school should start later for those students. The study says that older students should be getting at least nine hours of sleep a night to maintain their physical and mental health.  The report says there is more and more evidence that lack of sleep has a direct impact on a student's health and their ability to perform in the classroom. The data also strongly suggests pushing the start of school at the high school level to at least 8:30.

The study found that kids who get the extra sleep are also reporting going to bed a little earlier by an average of almost 18 minutes, which is really having a positive effect on those students. Lack of sleep can also put teens at greater risk for abusing alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.

Current s data shows that most of us anymore are not getting any where near enough sleep, but the problem is much worse with high school aged kids. By the way, schools that have adopted a later start time say the kids are more attentive with much better concentration and improved performance in the classroom. They are also getting their homework done earlier.

I suppose I need to share this with our teenage son and daughter and just take the "I told you so" look in stride. Bottom line, if you teens are sleeping later and later, it has nothing with laziness and has everything to do physical changes that require them to get more sleep and it is just that simple.

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