Radio Commentary
For years parents
and educators have known that teens do not get enough sleep to meet their
health needs. Now we know there is a new culprit: their cell phones.
Parents may be
unaware that many teens sleep with their cell phones by their side, answering
calls or text messaging throughout the night.
As a result, teens
come in to school very tired, and even start experiencing the kind of ailments
that arise from too little sleep.
Research has
documented that on average, teenagers have traditionally gotten about two hours
less sleep every night than they need. The situation puts teen at risk of
increased accidents and general moodiness.
In the past, these
numbers arose from the fact that teens were generally staying up too late and
waking too early for the needs of their bodies. Those figures were calculated
BEFORE the prevalence of cell phones.
According to
research, teen bodies need nine hours and fifteen minutes of sleep per night.
Prior to the advent of cell phones as bedmates, teens were only getting an
average of seven hours of sleep per night. Now the numbers are far lower.
And fitful sleep,
in short bursts, is not as healthful as uninterrupted sleep, so the health
implications are far graver than they have ever been.
Of the estimated
100,000 car crashes a year linked to drowsy driving, almost half involve
drivers age 16-24, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. What’s more, like humans of any age, teens get more emotional
when they are sleep-deprived.
The best thing a
parent can do to help teens get the vital sleep they need is make sure there is
no cell phone by their side when they go to bed. Period. Turn it off and take
it away. It’s good parenting.
