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Morning Blues
Get Your Teen out of Bed
By Laura Paul
Dr. Simon says the teen's biological clock is reset because he doesn't see light, for example, until 11 a.m. "If the brain wakes up at 11 in the morning, then it does not turn off until 2 or 3 in the morning," he says. "So this goes on Saturday night also, and then Sunday night, Mom or Dad tries to put their kids to bed at 9 so they get plenty of sleep and ... can get up at 7 for classes, and the kids can't fall asleep; they sit up and watch television, they listen to the radio, they surf the Internet and yell at their mom and dad until 1 or 2 in the morning when they finally fall asleep. Then 6 comes when it is time to wake them up for school, and Mom and Dad can't get them to wake up."
This problem is further compounded by the fact that it is still dark out in many cities around the country when teenagers get up for school in the morning. And what's the first thing a sleepy teen will reach for in the darkened morning? "In my day it was Coca-Cola and Pepsi," says Dr. Simon. "Now it's espresso. The problem is the caffeine helps them stay awake in the daytime, but caffeine has a six-hour half life, which means when you have a cup of coffee, six hours later half of it is still around. Caffeine also fragments sleep; even though you don't think it affects your sleep, it greatly does."
Barbara S. Natoli, the executive director at Applied Behavioral Associates, LLC. in Framingham, Mass., has two sons, ages 16 and 20. She recommends sticking to a consistent routine as well as minimizing highly stimulating or stressful activities at least one hour prior to bedtime. Don't be afraid to set a curfew and give teenagers limits. Create a dark, quiet sleep environment at night.
