We’ve all stayed up a bit later than normal watching a movie or browsing the internet, but a recent survey indicates that teens are doing this so often they are missing out on 1.5-2 hours of precious sleep every night.
An American teenager told the Chicago Tribune that a typical evening for him consisted of:
“He and five friends brought laptops to another friend’s house to play “World of War Craft” and other Internet games against each other. Around 4:15 a.m., one of the guys craved a milkshake, so they piled into two cars and drove around Carol Stream in search of an ice cream shop still open. An hour later, they were back at the friend’s house, slurping down their drinks while checking Facebook and playing Xbox until they fell asleep — cell phones by their sides — around 6:15 a.m.”
This kind of nighttime activity wouldn’t be a problem if it was only every now and then, but the problem is that many teens let technology keep them up late every night.
According to the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, these teens are averaging 6.5 to 7.5 hours per night which is well short of the 9 hours recommended for the developing teen brain and body.
“A study published in the journal Pediatrics last year showed that teens kept up their activities late into the night. After 9 p.m., 82 percent of the high school students surveyed were watching TV, 55 percent were using a computer online and 44 percent were talking on the phone — with another 34 percent sending and receiving text messages. Of that group, only 21 percent got the 8 to 10 hours of sleep recommended.”
The consequences of this run far deeper than just being sluggish the next day, with lack of sleep contributing to poor classroom performance, obesity and depression in young people.
So teenagers, switch off that game console, log off Facebook, turn off your phone and get some rest! The technology will still be there tomorrow and you’ll feel much happier and active after a good sleep.
Here at Sleepio, we are (obviously) big fans of the internet and technology but we don’t let it affect our sleep – we finish all our blogging and tweeting nice and early so we can get always good night’s sleep!
Posted in Science, Sleep News | Tagged: sleep, Sleep News, study, teenagers
