Every morning thousands of zombies rise from their beds, stumble into clothing, apply hair gel and make up, and operate motor vehicles. Not buying it? Our nation's youth may not be zombies, but their presence of mind is comparable at six o"clock in the morning when their day begins. Because of school starting times, students are lucky to get six to seven hours of rest a night. Studies on the subject show that students have a hard time focusing on the material being taught before nine o"clock in the morning.
The logical answer, one might conclude, is for parents to enforce stricter bedtimes, and restrict television and computer use when it comes time for their child to get their full ten hours of sleep before hitting the books again the next morning. However, parents have always found it difficult to argue with their child's biological tendencies. For reasons unbeknownst to us, a teenager's biological clock shifts so that their natural inclination is to go to sleep later in the evening and get up later in the morning. Teenagers do not begin to feel tired until eleven o"clock, and have difficulty applying themselves before nine o"clock in the morning. Students forced to bed before their biological clocks tell them they are tired will lie awake as often as not until their bodies tell them it's alright to rest. When these same students are pried out of bed at six in the morning, they have only gotten seven of their recommended ten hours of rest. This can be very detrimental to their growth and development, academics, judgment and mood.
Sleeping does more than keep a teenager alert during classes. Sleep is vital for the production of growth and sex hormones, and the processing of glucose. If teens are sleep deprived for an extended period of time their blood sugar levels can raise dramatically, such as that of a person contracting diabetes. This isn't the only threat to a teen denied their sleep.
