As a sleep specialist, this is the most common reason that adolescents are referred to me. Parents complain that they are unable to get their teens up for school. When finally awakened, many take an unusually long time to become alert. In fact, we refer to this as sleep drunkenness.
The problem is that many of these teenagers are not getting more than five or six hours of sleep. They may be going into their bedroom at 9 p.m., but are not actually falling asleep until the early morning. Usually, because of the way school hours are structured, they have to be up by 6 a.m. Is there any wonder that they are sleepy and having trouble functioning in school?
There are two major causes of this. One is environmental due to being surrounded by television, computers, texting, and video games. The other is an inherent circadian disorder that is present in up to seven percent of adolescents. This is called Delayed Sleep-Phase Syndrome. In these teens, their biologic clock has been reset to a later bedtime.
The telltale sign in both is that these kids will sleep late on weekends if allowed. During the summer, they go to bed in the early morning and sleep past noon. This practice makes it even more difficult to return to a normal sleep/wake cycle when the school year comes around.
What can a parent do? In the case of the environmental causes, remove the TV from the bedroom, eliminate texting and video games at night, and try to enforce a reasonable bedtime that will allow for at least nine hours of sleep. In the case of the circadian disorder, this is a bit more difficult. However, exposure to bright sunlight upon awakening and adhering to a set sleep/wake schedule even on weekends and in the summer can help. In some cases, appealing to the school for a later start time for classes, if possible, may be necessary. Finally, consider seeing a sleep specialist if this continues.
