Kick-starting sleepy teens
Photo 
Dr. Robert Cook
JANESVILLE — She’s up late, watching TV and texting girlfriends.
He’s playing video games till all hours.
They’re irritable when they wake—if they wake.
They fall asleep in class.
They’re teens, and staying up late comes natural to them, said Mercy Health System’s Dr. Robert Cook.
“Show me a 16-year-old who gets eight to 10 hours of sleep, and we’re talking about somebody who doesn’t have much of a social life but probably is awake during the day,” Cook said.
But becoming a night owl can—and often does—get out of hand, said Cook, a board-certified physician in sleep disorders at the Mercy Regional Sleep Disorder Center.
What’s a parent to do? These are Cook’s top two recommendations:
Rule No. 1: Remove all electronic gear from her room, especially anything that emits light: video games, TVs, computers.
All that stuff stimulates the brain, which is the last thing a sleepy child needs. Dark and quiet are what you need to sleep.
Rule No. 2: Don’t fret so much about bedtime. It’s the waking time that sets a person’s internal clock. So don’t let them sleep late on weekends.
If they sleep till 11 or noon on Saturday and Sunday, they’ll fall asleep late, no matter when you send them to bed. And that means another struggle on Monday morning.
Cook said he frequently hears from parents whose children have become night owls. His prescription is to modify behavior.
But Cook knows it can be a struggle to break bad sleep habits. He compares it with quitting smoking.
And adolescents’ bodies naturally want to stay up later, Cook said.
Adults normally become drowsy by 10 p.m. and naturally wake around 6 a.m., Cook said.
But teens often are different. Their bodies might prefer sleep between 2 and 10 a.m.
“What happens is, as you enter adolescence, you can enter a disconnect between your internal clock and the normal light cues you have in your normal day/night cycle,” Cook said. “So adolescents tend to delay their sleep longer and longer.”
Teens might enhance that natural tendency with TV, computer games and the like.
The result can be tardiness, poor performance at school and sleepiness, if not actually falling asleep in class.
And the chronically sleep-deprived tend to gain weight, Cook said. Some even start down the road toward diabetes.
Later start
Cook said he’d recommend school boards change the start time for high schools to a later hour. Even a half-hour delay would make a difference, he believes.
Karen Schulte, director of student services for the Janesville School District, isn’t convinced. She noted that individuals’ sleep preferences vary. Some like to get up early, so changing the school start time might help one group but not another, she said.
Schulte points out that the school district recently began offering alternatives that could help students with sleep problems. The Rock River Charter School offers an evening shift for some of its at-risk students, and the Janesville Virtual Academy allows students to study when it’s most convenient for them.
Cook said the average teen’s propensity for staying up late, combined with video screens in the bedroom can lead to problems.
“I think that’s a big mistake,” Cook said of bedroom TVs.
For that matter, all time with a TV or game console should be limited, he recommended. It’s not just the mental stimulation. The light itself stimulates wakefulness, Cook said. That’s why increasing exposure to light in the morning can help.
Cook said the first and best way to attack the problem is to change the sleep schedule. He acknowledges it isn’t easy. He compares it with quitting smoking.
A key change is wake-up time. Typical are teens who stay up late Friday and Saturday and sleep late the next morning. That sets their internal clocks for that sleep pattern.
“And then when Monday morning comes along, it’s a real struggle,” Cook said.
Cook said he doesn’t let his own son sleep late on weekends. He recommends other parents do the same.
For severe cases, some doctors use drugs to alter sleep schedules—sedatives at night and stimulants in the morning—but Cook prefers behavioral changes.
HOW MANY Z’S?
How much sleep should your child get each night? The experts argue, and each individual is different, but Dr. Robert Cook of the Mercy Regional Sleep Disorders Center recommends:
-- Elementary-aged children: 10-11 hours
-- Adolescents: 8-10 hours
-- Adults: 6-9 hours
Sep 29, 2008 at 8:42 a.m.
Suggest removal
All this concern because teens are fulfilling their job descriptions -- stay up too late and complain about how early they need to get up. Who didn't do that???
Sep 29, 2008 at 7:45 a.m.
Suggest removal
Woodsman, you haven't looked or considered what others have said. These are kids and getting up at 5 am to catch a bus, dropped off at 4pm, eat, homework, off to bed. That's a very long day for a growing child. They are away from home for 10 hours! That's longer than a full time job!
Sep 28, 2008 at 12:28 a.m.
Suggest removal
Actually, there are many well behaved excellent students who naturally are "night" people. As is the case with my daughter. As is with I. She is an honor roll student, very well behaved, has never been drunk, smoked, wears a promise ring intending to save herself for marriage, has traditional values that have been taught from the Bible, has been on a missions trip to help others in S. America, impresses everyone she meets with her intelligence and her "non-traditional" teenage behavior. The most she ever gets in trouble for is not keeping her room clean. I would say I am doing my job at home...how about you? And, she is still a night owl. BTW...she is a junior, 16 years old and could graduate early if she wanted to. I wouldn't call this an unruly child in any sense of the word. Yet, I would still like to see a 9am start time. She is not an adult yet, although she will be one soon enough. I am trying to get her to enjoy her childhood as it is the only one she will ever have and she can never get it back!
Sep 27, 2008 at 11 p.m.
Suggest removal
No wonder this generation of kids fail in the work force. These so called educators are always trying to find MORE ways to baby these kids. "RULES" Starts at home,BUT the parents of the unruly ones have already LOST,and then want to pass the buck. Sure start the schools later,then the kids will stay up later,start them at noon,then your kids will come falling in the door at 8:00AM. You do your job at home,and then the kids can do their job at school!!!
Sep 27, 2008 at 7:52 p.m.
Suggest removal
That's right, let the inmates run the asylum so to speak. It's much easier to acquiesce to the kids than to deal with the problem.
That line of thinking is responsible for too many of our problems as it is.
.
Give me a break.
.
Then they will be dumbfounded when their' boss fires them for sleeping on the job.
They will probably sue to get the hours of work changed to suit their whim.
Sep 27, 2008 at 4:02 p.m.
Suggest removal
I would love to have school start later. IF my 9th grader took the bus she would be picked up at 6:15, school starsts at 7:55. My kindergarteners be picked up at 7, school starts at 8:10. We only live 7 miles from school. No, we don't live in Jville but it could be a statewide decision.
Sep 27, 2008 at 3:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
"Rule No. 1: Remove all electronic gear from her room, especially anything that emits light: video games, TVs, computers."
RIGGGHT... like the spoiled little brats will let their parents take away all the things they love...
Sep 27, 2008 at 2:27 p.m.
Suggest removal
Janesvillian is correct about the buss factor. We live about 3 miles out of town and the middle school/high school students in our subdivision get on a bus before 7:00 a.m. I can't imagine how hard it is for those teens to get up, showered, dressed, breakfast and to the bus stop by 6:50 a.m. or so and not miss the bus. I'm guessing their using bus time to eat breakfast and it more than likely is NOT a healthy one. I'm not looking forward to my elementary kids having to make that earlier bus as they get older.
Sep 27, 2008 at 2:09 p.m.
Suggest removal
In Argentina in some schools the older kids actually do go to school from noon until 6pm or so. I think 9am is very reasonable without taking it to the extreme timsmom. No one is saying our kids should start at noon. Like I said before, I think Milton has the right idea on this one.
Sep 27, 2008 at 11:07 a.m.
Suggest removal
There's a lot of research backing up these points. What's certain is that getting enough sleep is very important, and that teenagers need more sleep than adults, which is something that wasn't recognized until relatively recently. (Sorry, mom and dad, for all those times you had to practically manhandle me out of bed!) In fact sleep deprivation is becoming a major modern problem in the entire developed world. Chances are good YOU don't get enough sleep.
.
Later start times have been linked to greater overall student success. Nobody is suggesting noon, but 9am is definitely reasonable. The problem is especially acute for teenagers who take a bus, because schedules can require that a student rise well before dawn and even catch the bus before sunrise.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/healt...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/4678...
Sep 27, 2008 at 12:46 a.m.
Suggest removal
I like Dr. Cook's recommendation about starting high school later. I think it would make a world of difference for the majority of teens. I believe Milton starts later and has had good success with it.
Sep 27, 2008 at 12:03 a.m.
Suggest removal
Great article Frank. I deal with this daily.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.