Lee County Public Schools suggest teens need more sleep this weekend

Daylight savings time can be a double whammy for teens.

As students enter adolescence and the official teen years, their bodies require more rest to keep pace with developmental changes they experience.

Ironically, this is also the time when teens begin to sleep less.

Part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, and academic demands also keep teens from getting the 8.5 to 9 hours of sleep their bodies require to perform at maximum capacity. While most of us likely mourned the lost hour this past weekend, the "spring forward" is particularly troublesome for already sleep-deprived teens.

Research shows that sleepy teens may have difficulty learning and completing tasks that require memory functions, such as the recall of important facts for tests or meaningful classroom participation.

Additionally, mood swings that adults frequently attribute to hormone changes during adolescence might also be more closely linked to a lack of sleep. Consider, teens nationwide report just over 6 hours of sleep per night, with some teens attempting to catch up on much needed sleep during the weekend.

While there is something to be said for letting teens hibernate during the weekend in an attempt to recoup lost hours, the best solution is to make every attempt to establish regular week-night sleep patterns.

Some of the biggest obstacles to productive sleep for teens can be the television and cell phones.

Constant attention to these devices, especially text messages and social media, can keep teens from falling into a deep sleep, subsequently waking and feeling as if they never slept.

Late night work hours or social events can also keep teens up long after they are finished. Teens produce melatonin, the chemical that makes us feel sleepy, at a much later time in the day than adults. Late-night social stimulus can delay the production even longer, resulting in a much later bedtime.

And while the spring forward has given us more daylight hours to enjoy the Southwest Florida weather, the delayed sunset and sunrise work against a teen's internal clock; it refuses to think about sleep until it is pitch black and subsequently refuses to think about rising until it is fully daylight.

A deliberate attempt to unwind and relax before the sun goes down can help teens fall asleep more easily once the sun sets.

As a full week of life with a missing hour concludes, consider letting teens sleep a little more this weekend and then talk openly with your teen about how their sleep patterns might be improved to get the most out of their teen years.