Teens May Need Less Sleep Than You Think

Parents Forum
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<p>"If your teen’s lack of sleep is keeping you up nights, a new study should help put your mind at ease.</p>

<p>National guidelines recommend at least eight hours of serious snooze time a night for young people. But that’s an unrealistic goal for adolescents, who are overloaded with homework, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs, experts say. Or who feel the need to stay up late texting friends or updating Facebook.</p>

<p>In fact, if standardized test performance is any indication, 16-year-olds score best with about seven hours of sleep a night, surprising new research finds. …"</p>

<p>My guess is that high schoolers are averaging around five hours on school nights. To paraphrase the poet: “Texts to go before I sleep.”</p>

<p>[TODAY</a> Health - How much sleep do teens really need? Maybe less than you think](<a href=“http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/17/10436995-how-much-sleep-do-teens-really-need-maybe-less-than-you-think]TODAY”>http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/17/10436995-how-much-sleep-do-teens-really-need-maybe-less-than-you-think)</p>

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<p>5 hours of sleep?? Our kids need 8, if not more. Our oldest has always needed a lot of sleep, 9+ hours when he was in high school. He planned accordingly. Our other kids get 8+ a night and plan accordingly. They can really tell (and so can I) if they have a late night for a school event or whatever.</p>

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<p>Test taking is such a small part of a person’s life. In my field we’ve seen data showing that sleep issues can be associated with behavioral issues, mood problems, how a kid handles stress, physical symptoms (especially stomach issues, headaches), etc etc. I’m still thinking these kids are growing, their brains are developing; they need more than less.</p>