We all know that sleep is important for everyone. But do you know sleep holds a bit too much importance for children in their teenage years? Young children can sleep longer because they don’t have much on their plate. However, as they grow older, they start feeling pressurized by their academic and social commitments. This is when they begin to allow their sleep to take a back seat, often unaware of the negative impact it may have on their health.
We at Delhi Public School Kota, recognized as the top school of Kota, talked to several parents about this topic and found that many are concerned about their teenagers’ rising sleep and relaxation patterns. It is especially concerning for parents whose kids have school early in the morning. Whenever they try to wake their kids up in the morning, they’re often faced with resistance and the usual ‘five more minutes please!’ cycle. While it might be baffling for many parents, we would like to highlight that it is a normal part of their growth process.
Teenagers have to deal with multiple changes during their adolescence phase, especially rapid hormonal changes. All this requires extra sleep and relaxation so their body and mind can rejuvenate and function properly. Hence, sometimes, what looks like defiance and laziness is actually your teenager’s biological process. If you’re wondering what precisely makes your teenagers crave more sleep and relaxation, read this blog post to get all your answers.
The Science Behind Teen Sleep
Every child experiences rapid physical and hormonal changes during their teen years. Because of this, their sleep patterns are also impacted. One of the biggest changes is felt in their circadian rhythm, aka the body clock. According to Hanne Hoffmann, a Ph.D. in neuroscience and biochemistry, teenagers need as much sleep as possible during puberty. This is the period when their brain also undergoes rapid changes, requiring extra sleep for recovery.
Most adults have a mature body that can effortlessly identify healthy sleep-wake patterns. Their body knows that they must wake up in the morning and sleep at night, also called the circadian rhythm. Unfortunately, this clock runs slower for teenagers. Even if you keep an adult in darker environments, their body cells will still know when to wake up. But if teenagers are kept in the same environment, they’ll typically wake up three hours later. If you don’t let your teenage kids sleep enough, they may become more vulnerable to numerous health challenges, like obesity, cardiovascular dysfunction, depression, etc.
Why Teenagers Should Be Given More Sleep Time?
We at Delhi Public School Kota have always advocated for maintaining a healthy balance between study and rest for the holistic growth of children. If you ever feel that your kids are missing out on important milestones because of sleeping more, think again. When they get enough sleep in their adolescence phase, they actually develop in a better and healthy way. Letting them sleep more during their teenage phase can help them in the following ways:
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Proper Brain Development
Every teenager goes through a process called ‘synaptic pruning’ during their adolescence phase. It helps remove any unnecessary neural connections and strengthens the important ones. Since most of this process takes place during sleep, you must ensure your teenagers sleep enough. It will help sharpen their cognitive efficiency by allowing their brain to work better. Insufficient sleep will hinder their cognitive development. A clinical study even highlighted how teenagers with inadequate sleep can experience frequent drowsiness and lack of attention, affecting their academic performance as well as social connections.
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Better Emotional Regulation
It might be surprising, but sleep plays a crucial role in maintaining your teenager’s emotional well-being. Even if adults are sleep-deprived, it reflects in their mood, emotional reactions, and visible irritability. Teenagers are no different than adults in this regard. When they sleep, their brain processes emotional information and regulates stress hormones. It eventually helps them manage stressors more effectively. If your teenage kids don’t get the required sleep, it will negatively affect their emotional development. They will find it challenging to resolve interpersonal conflicts and become more vulnerable to numerous mental health challenges.
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Improved Physical Growth and Health
Good sleep positively impacts almost every aspect of our body. It boosts the immune system, regulates hormones, improves muscle recovery, and more. Since teenagers undergo rapid physical transformations during puberty, their bodies require more strength for healthy physical development, and sleeping extra is the best way to achieve it. Even research has confirmed that teenagers who don’t get the required sleep have a troubling metabolic profile.
Conclusion
We at Delhi Public School Kota, regarded as the top school of Kota, firmly believe that if you, as parents, want optimal growth of your children, then first of all, you must learn to set age-specific expectations for them. While you may feel nervous when you see your teenage kids sleeping for long hours, always remind yourself that it isn’t an act of laziness or rebellion but their body’s way of tackling the rapid hormonal, cognitive, and physical changes that they are going through. Their sleep patterns will eventually improve as they grow old. However, if you feel their sleeping patterns are absurdly long and they experience health challenges even after long sleep hours, then consider consulting a doctor for personalized guidance.