Teenagers have a reputation for being lazy, loving lie-ins and finding it difficult to get up in time for those early starts at school. This can often be brushed off as typical teenage rebellious behaviour, following streams of late nights and parents suggesting to ‘just go to bed earlier!’ This is easier said than done for teenagers, though, as the major hormonal changes throughout puberty can cause sleep patterns to go crazy.
Teens need more sleep than adults and younger children, as it is when sleeping that certain hormones are released to aid those growth spurts. Adolescents usually get the least sleep, though, due to not feeling able to settle earlier and daily routines getting in the way of their lie-ins (who invented school!?). And a tired teenager is not a happy teenager!
Some schools in America have experimented with later starts, and significant improvement of overall educational performance has been noted. Perhaps this timing is something that needs to be thought about and utilised, likely to benefit teenagers, teachers and parents.
Melatonin is a natural hormone which circulates in a 24-hour cycle, regulating sleep patterns. It is produced daily, rising before the onset of sleepiness and helping us to fall asleep. In most adults, the melatonin starts being produced around 10pm, whereas it has been found that it doesn’t happen with teenagers until around 1am. This explains why many adolescents find it difficult to sleep until the early hours.
Sunlight affects the production of melatonin, though, leading to changes from the winter to summer months. A recent report states that daylight lasting until much later in the spring and summer leads to later bedtimes for teens. This was stated alongside biological findings (from the Lighting Research Centre, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) that the lighter evenings cause delays in melatonin production, which then leads to teenagers to be unable to fall asleep until later.
With nature playing havoc with melatonin levels, teenagers are losing vital sleep while still having to rise early for school. Sleep deprivation can lead to moodiness and even depression, and doesn’t help to rid teens of that lazy, grumpy stereotype!
Tags: adolescent, hormones, melatonin, sleep, sleep deprivation, teen, teenagers