Teens Sleeping Too Much, Or Not Enough? Parents Can Help

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September 24th, 2018

Of parents who tell pollsters their teens have trouble sleeping, 23 percent say the kids are waking up at night worried about their social lives. A third are worried about school. All-night access to electronic devices only aggravates the problem, sleep scientists say

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Within three days of starting high school this year, my ninth-grader could not get into bed before 11 p.m. or wake up by 6 a.m. He complained he couldn’t fall asleep but felt foggy during the school day and had to reread lessons a few times at night to finish his homework. And forget morning activities on the weekends — he was in bed.

We’re not the only family struggling to get restful shut-eye.

“What parents are sharing with us is that the ‘normal life’ of a typical American high schooler is interfering with sleep,” says Sarah Clark, co-director of C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at the University of Michigan.

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