May 8, 2006 10:00 AM
Teens Don't Get Enough Sleep? Who Knew?
Until about a month ago, it never failed. Almost every night after I'd go to bed, I'd hear a little tap, tap, tapping coming from the next room. I would get out of bed and swing open my teenager's bedroom door, and catch her red-handed, text messaging her boyfriend, or best friend, or both.
"It's time to go to bed. NOW," I'd say. "Oh right. Yeah. I was just...finishing...this one...message."
Enter, the 10:30 p.m. rule: no talking on the phone or text messaging after 10:30 p.m. on weeknights. She thought it sounded harsh, but dh and I thought it sounded lenient. So we've been giving it a try, and so far, so good. If she gets caught breaking the rule, I take the phone. For as long as I'd like. Bwahahaha. Mean mommy.
But you see, I'm not really mean, because I'm doing this because my daughter simply doesn't get enough sleep. And the other day, I found an article that was no surprise to me at all, about this very topic. According to this MSNBC article, titled: Drowsy teens dozing off at school, on the road:
America is raising a nation of sleep-deprived kids, with only 20 percent getting the recommended nine hours of shuteye on school nights and more than one in four reporting dozing off in class.
But what scared me even more than that was this line:
Many are arriving late to school because of oversleeping and others are driving drowsy, according to a poll released Tuesday by the National Sleep Foundation.
Where I live, there are TONS of teenagers driving--driving to school, driving to work, driving everywhere. So this trend pretty much terrifies me. And to make matters worse, my own teenager began driving by herself last month. So now, I have a whole new driving-related thing to freak out about.
Comments
When I was a teenager, my mother didn't monitor the phone. I was up till two or three in the morning on the phone and then up at 6:30 for school. I have no idea how I managed with so little sleep.
Posted by: T. at May 8, 2006 06:14 PM
I'm even meaner than you - all phone calls cease around here at 10, and the computer is in the living room, so no sneaking on at night. The only thing i have to watch is, my teenage daughter (14) will turn off her light, then after i've gone to bed, turn her light and sometimes her tv back on......hmmm....
And yes, sleepy teenage drivers scare me. Teenagers doing anything scares me. God, could we really be that old?
Great post.
Posted by: Jodi at May 8, 2006 11:58 PM
When I was a teen, all I did was sleep! LOL
Now as a mom, I don't sleep at all :)
Posted by: mrsmogul at May 9, 2006 03:11 PM
If it's not one thing ,it's ten others.
Does stress ever take a holiday?
Stop by for a visit.
Posted by: michele at May 9, 2006 04:01 PM
Good post, LC! Thanks for reminding us all that we need to take something that seems so benign, so much more seriously. It struck a chord...which translates to, I stole your idea...LOL!
Posted by: Tammy at May 9, 2006 05:04 PM
Hey, LC, thanks for stopping by my page...always glad to make friends with another Diet Coke addict! I'm up against a tough challenge these days - the doctor has ordered my youngest, who is overweight, to give up all soft drinks, even the diet ones. so, i have to set a good example (grump). Which just means i'll have to get my fix at work! (laugh)
Posted by: Jodi at May 9, 2006 11:02 PM
on school nights, mine do a pretty good job of going up to bed around 10- of course, they may lay & watch movies... I dreading summer hours, though.
Posted by: Karen at May 10, 2006 04:31 PM
