Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.com"Sleep debt" tied to attention trouble in teens
Seeded on Wed Sep 7, 2011 1:48 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
— Filed under: health
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Most teenagers don't seem to have a problem focusing on texting for hours at a time.
Like anything else they focus on what is important to them. Life hasn't changed much since I was a kid. The bottom line is that kids will focus on things that are interesting. In HS I found history a drag then in college I had some great professors that presented it in an interesting manner. D average in HS to A in college. I found electronics difficult also until that something clicked. It's all in the presentation.
to the exclusion of not tripping over things while walking.
Looking at text on a small screen is interesting?
But part of being an adult is focusing on what is important to your boss...
Never thought to call "your face stuck in a smart phone texting" as "sleep debt".
Easy solution to that, parental controls. My teens phone goes off early in th evening and doesn't work again til morning.
teens need sleep which aren't getting? REALLY? another pointless study. why don't we just quit doing research on this problem and start complaining to our legislatures to actually FIX IT.
Just curious, how would legislatures fix teens not getting enough sleep? I thought that would be a parental thing.
I thought this study happened in South Korea.
It is diffirent today. You had mothers back in the day that check on their children during the night and could ensure the lights were out. Only the phone and TV were problems which parents could control if they wanted to. Kids weren't over schedules with school, jobs and extra curriuclar activities. And parents didn't support and provide them with big ticket items they use all night.
Take away the cell phones, computers and ipads at the same time every night. That will help. Cut off the texting. There's absolutely no need for that. Ensure your kids are disciplined and go to bed, sans electronics at the same time every night. Teach them the weekend is the time for fun after their chores are completed.
Sorry, this is not about blaming the mom. It's about science. Science proved long ago that growth hormone is only secreted while the human body sleeps. Teenagers actually NEED more sleep than during other times of their lives. It is like a repeat of infancy, due to the amount of growth that takes place at this time of life.
Studies have also found that contrary to previously held belief, even BRAIN tissue grows during the teen years. This also accounts for some of the crazy actions of previously "smart" kids. It's been dubbed "swiss cheese brain."
Also, this extra sleep requirement places teens in the deepest part of REM in the early part of the morning when they are being forced to wake up, so even if they are getting enough HOURS of sleep, they haven't had enough QUALITY sleep. Study after study has shown that school districts that paid attention to these details and changed the start time of school to 9:00 or even 10:00 experienced remarkable improvement in every measurable area: grade and test score improvement, reduced tardies and cuts and discipline problems, etc. Yet most districts simply refuse to make these changes and have gone in the OPPOSITE direction. School starts at 7:50 a.m. in our local district. Remember when it used to start at 8:30? 20 years ago?
Starting school later has another benefit. It allows school to end closer to the time when parents are getting off from work. Those witching hours between 2:50 when kids get out of school and 5:30 when parents start getting home simply allow more time for kids to get in to trouble.
Wait, what was this story about again?
Another idiotic study funded by some think tank that leads to nowhere. Tax dollars eaten by 200 pound Alligators and extricated into a news story. Poooo...
A) This study was done in South Korea, so your tax dollars had nothing to do with it
B) It is important because if students are struggling in school and getting poorer grades on tests, their parents should try to see how much sleep their teen is getting
C) In a society now powered by electricity, we do not follow the typical sleep schedules that our bodies would naturally fall in to. We are up later, and get up earlier.
D) If you don't like reading about science, then dont.