Sleep Deprived Teens

An alarming number of adolescents are nodding off in class, driving while drowsy and falling asleep over their homework, all because they aren't getting enough zzzs, a new survey shows. "Only 20 percent of children are getting optimal sleep, and nearly half are getting insufficient sleep," said Christopher Drake, a clinical psychologist with the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Center in Detroit and a member of the board of directors of the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Kids who are getting insufficient sleep are more likely to feel depressed, more likely to get poorer grades and be impaired while driving. This is a major, major serious area of concern. At least once a week, 28 percent of high-schoolers fall asleep in school, 22 percent fall sleep while doing homework and 14 percent get to school late or miss school because they overslept. About half of all adolescents go to bad after 11 o'clock. We as society are to blame for sleep deprivation, with late night talk shows and events going on after dark, kids are more active and awake at night. Getting less sleep may not seem like a big deal to most, but it is in children. Teens are loosing their sense of awareness and are unable to focus and concentrate on information being presented to them. No one wants their children to get low grades in school when they could be getting A's and B's. I feel that people need to be aware of the possible risk of sleep deprived youngsters, they could cause harm to themselves and others. I for one know that I am sleep deprived and hopefully will work on getting more sleep. How about you?