Does Your Teen Get Enough Rest?
Posted by Danielle Bean in Health on Thursday, June 25, 2009 10:00 AM
Since ending our school year, I’ve noticed a new trend in my household: Some of the kids actually sleep in the morning.
One recent morning, I found myself poking, prodding, and begging my almost 13-year-old son to get out of bed at 9:30 am.
The irony was delicious.
“Are you the same child who ten years ago used to pounce on my legs and drag me out of bed to make him breakfast at 5 am?” I asked.
“Mrrrrphhh,” he replied. I left him alone.
I’ve read in a few different places that teens are wired to stay up late at night and sleep later in the morning. And then this recent Time article about the connections between teen sleep habits and grades caught my eye.
It seems that teens who go to bed early and wake up early (“Larks”) and teens who go to bed and get up at average times (“Robins”) tend to have higher grade point averages than those who go to bed late and wake up late (“Owls”).
I’m happy to see that the “Robins” did as well as the “Larks,” because quite frankly, I’m a bit of an “Owl” myself and I can’t see trying to turn a night bird into a morning bird. But aiming for average sleep times seems do-able.
I am curious about your teens’ wake up times. What tips or tricks get your teens into bed at a reasonable hour and up and at ‘em in the morning?
(PS: That’s not my son in the photo. He doesn’t have a cell phone and even if he did, we certainly would never allow him to “text” himself to sleep 
)
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