Teens not sleeping enough — some blame school start time, others say tech

PHOENIX — A new government study said early school start times make it difficult for teenagers to get enough sleep.

The report, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said most middle and high school students start the day too early, and that that affects the amount of sleep the teenagers get. The report suggests that school should not start any earlier than 8:30 a.m.

But, Will Humble of the University of Arizona’s Center for Population Science disagrees.  He doesn’t believe those early start times are causing problems for kids.

Instead, Humble blames the multiple electronic devices that teenagers won’t part with for impeding their sleep. “The problem is that the kids are going to bed with electronic devices,” Humble said.  “They’ve got their computers open.  They’ve got their phones on. They got iPads in their room.”

All those devices, according to Humble, are distracting. “It’s the dinging and the lights.”

Humble said starting school later isn’t the solution for helping teens get more sleep.  He said turning off the cellphones, tablets and computers is a better answer. 

“When those things are dinging and going off all night and putting off light, teenagers are just not going to get the hours of sleep that they need,” said Humble.

For Humble, getting the electronics out of the bedroom is good “sleep hygiene”.  He suggested setting up a charging station for all the electronic devices in the household… in a room that’s not anyone’s bedroom.  And, he said, this goes for the devices belonging to the kids and to the adults alike.

Humble also is a proponent of adhering to a regular bedtime.

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