The Sleep Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive

Journalist Lewis sounds the alarm that teens aren’t getting enough sleep in this impassioned survey. Due in large part to early school start times, teens are sleep deprived, she writes, and it’s taking a toll on their health. Lewis explains how sleep works and details the shifts that happen during puberty and cause teens to need additional morning sleep to get sufficient rest. She details the history of school schedules, attributing earlier start times to school consolidation, busing issues, and budget cuts, and offers data showing dramatic improvements in attendance and mental health in Minnesota schools when schools started later. Parents stuck with an early bell, Lewis writes, can be “strategic” with kids “about naps and caffeine” and set limits for tech use at night, but the best way to deal with the problem, she argues, is to push schools to start later. To that end, she offers detailed and practical guidance, including tips for building community involvement, and responses to common objections by school districts (“Sports are often not nearly as difficult to rearrange as people think they might be,” for example). This convincing plea is well worth a look for parents and educators alike. (June)