Many teenagers wake up feeling tired.
This has an impact on their daily motivation, and can cause increased irritability and difficulties in concentrating. It goes without saying that this can have a negative impact on the ability to stay focused (and awake) at school, which can affect academic performance.
This can also have a negative impact on their relationships with family, teachers and peers. A lack of sleep has also been shown to impact young peoples’ self-esteem. So what is the cause?
Quite simply, feeling tired is most often caused by a lack of good sleep.
Although biological changes can disrupt sleeping patterns, social research continues to show that teenagers stay up later for a number of reasons, including increased homework and more recently, increased use of technology and social media into the night. Irregular sleeping patterns can cause poor sleeping habits, which can cause insomnia.
It is therefore recommended that as much as teenagers want to stay up later like adults, their sleeping and night time habits need to be closely monitored. This might mean taking away access to technology and social media after a certain time at night. Stop complaining about unruly teens, and get parenting!
