Sleepy, Grumpy, Dopey: Teens do better with phone-free bedrooms, later school start times

Kids aren't getting enough sleep.

Teenagers averaged 50 minutes of smartphone use after 10 pm on school nights, and more than half of teens are on their phones between midnight and 4 am, according to a national study. The most popular uses were social media apps, such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, entertainment apps such as Netflix and Disney Plus, and games such as Roblox or Clash Royale. Researchers installed an app on teenagers' phones to track their use.

Sleepy

“Sleep is so essential for adolescent brain development, for learning and mental health," says Jason Nagata, lead author of the study. Sleep experts recommend 8 to 10 hours of sleep for adolescents. Few get that much.

Middle-of-the-night phone use is especially bad, says Nagata,  and a University of California at San Francisco pediatrics professor. “Social media is linked with higher risks of developing depression, anxiety, attention problems and can impact academic and cognitive performance.”

Parents should take charge, he says. Don't let your kids sleep with their phone or any other electronic device. Most teens have a device in their bedroom. It's a very bad idea, says Nagata.

Pushing back school start times is helping California students, writes Emily Oster in The Dispatch.

Starting in 2022-23, California middle schools could not start before 8 am or high schools before 8:30 am. Students got more sleep, according to a new study. Boys showed "significant reductions in sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation," and Hispanic students, who gained the most sleep, found it easier to concentrate. Eighth-grade math and English scores rose, especially for Hispanics and students from lower-income families, possibly leading to a decline in high school dropout rates.

Grumpy

That jibes with other research, Oster writes. In a large study, eighth graders who started school before 7:45 am got less sleep and did worse on academic performance and effort compared to students whose schools started later. "Later school start times also seem to have other positive impacts on adolescent students, including on mental health, physical health, and rates of car accidents," she writes.  

Like Nagata, Oster tells parents not to let their kids keep a device in the bedroom over night. It's too hard for many kids to resist. But it really helps if they don't have to get up at dawn to get to school on time, she concludes.

Teens are getting less sleep, and it shows, reports Chalkbeat's Lily Altavena. Only 37 percent of 12- and 13-year-olds get seven or more hours of sleep at night, the lowest rate in 30 years, according to a study published in Pediatrics, she writes.

If parents won't get their kids to sleep on time, there's one thing schools can do, says Rachel Widome, co-author of the study. . Push back school start times.

The average start time for high schools varies widely, ranging from 7:30 a.m. in Louisiana to 8:34 a.m. in South Carolina, Altavena writes. "One analysis found that start times between 8:30 a.m. and 8:59 a.m. were associated with better developmental outcomes, more sleep, and less negative moods among adolescents."