The world is very material. In the midst of succeeding in this material world, teenagers are asked to make sacrifices. It’s (often) a necessity to do so. However, sleep cannot be one of the sacrifices one makes to achieve academic/material success.

Image Credit : Avij from Wikimedia

Sleep is one of the most important factors for good health (physiological and psychological). Compromising sleep can have drastic consequences for the human body. It’s especially important for teenagers, who require sharp, rational, and decisive cognition.

Most people are far too uneducated on this topic and are quick to believe anecdotes/mainstream narratives without enough nuance in their analysis (eg, 7 hours a day is enough). This article is an attempt at shedding light on why teenagers are sleep deprived these days and to provide more nuance on the topic of how much sleep a teenager actually needs.

The Current Paradigm

As per a national poll in 2015, 87 percent of US teens did not get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep. That number is not silly, and the reality is — such drastic statistics can lead to multiple issues on a larger scale in the long term.

All of us (esp. adults) are effectively creating a population that will be suffering from mental health issues. The primary reason is nothing but a lack of sleep. I’m not here to dispute the fact that academic success is important, but even people concerned about their future are falling into the loophole of sleep deprivation.

This statistic isn’t exclusive to the United States; countries like South Korea and Japan suffer from undersleeping on all levels. In South Korea and Japan, there are issues of undersleeping being linked to cardiovascular deaths and increased stress. Lack of sleep also reduces basic immunity and cognitive function.

Image credit : Ka23 13 from Wikimedia,

Cohen et al. (2009) conducted a research that showed that those who sleep less than 7 hours are nearly 3 times more likely to catch a cold compared to those who sleep 8+ hours.

Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(1), 62–67.

There’s a dangerous precedent that this is setting for a future generation. The lack of sleep education is leading to complacency and a lack of addressing the evolving sleep needs. The paradigm has changed, and there’s a level of nuance the common man doesn’t understand.

Take the Quiz: What’s Your Perfect Skincare Product for the 'Clean Girl' Look?

Take this quiz to discover the perfect skincare product for your “clean girl” routine!

The Reality People Need To Acknowledge

The paradigm is shifting to a one where most teenagers prefer sleeping late at night, or is it? Not exactly. A lot of changes in society that we term as modernization aren’t unnatural/abnormal - they’re just consequences of a society that’s finally stepping out of a very constricted, one-dimensional society.

Biologically, teenagers are meant to wake up later than usual, but this overly materialistic culture has led to adults imposing their ignorance onto teenagers, claiming it’s okay to sacrifice sleep when it really is not. A bit of research would help a lot of people discover this fact. In the body of a teenager, melatonin is typically released much later than it is for an adult, which means teenagers / younger people feel sleepy much later at night than adults do.

So, naturally, they sleep later and wake up later than adults. Most parents aren’t aware of this fact.

Different people have different chronotypes, which decide their natural sleep rhythm. Teenagers (almost all) fall into the late chronotype due to their biological conditioning. Now, the culture and societal norms are such that teenagers are forced to wake up in the morning.

In most countries, school starts very early, which is counterintuitive to a life where teenagers need optimal sleep. So, there must be an adaptation towards changing school timings if humans need to solve stress and mental health issues for teenagers, because sleep is key and it completely enhances cognitive function.

Final Snore

This is not an encouragement to try to sleep later. This is an attempt at conveying the fact that sleep is something that isn’t as controllable as people think, especially not for teenagers. Their natural rhythm is designed in a particular way that the adults still don’t comprehend, and hence, it results in sleep deprivation and psychological issues.

There’s a lack of sleep education (as I’d like to call it) among the older generations, and it’s improving. Hopefully, this improvement scales at a faster rate because there’s a huge undersleeping crisis due to how the natural circadian rhythm of teenagers and the academic system are incompatible with each other. It shouldn’t pose the child with a choice of sleep or academics, as both are essential in a teen’s life. I see a lot of people say 7 hours, 8 hours is optimal for sleep, while it’s not that simple; it’s not that black and white.

There’s much more nuance involved regarding the wake-up/sleep timings and the number of hours as well. Most reputable research institutes, pediatricians, and medical researchers suggest that the optimal amount of sleep a teenager requires is 9-9.5 hours a night. The reality is - that’s barely allotted to them. It’s also advised to wake up after sunrise as exposure to the morning sun can ensure an energized wake-up.

Image Credit : Nikifor Krylov from Wikimedia

These are facts and details that are completely overlooked, but that can’t be the case anymore. Older generations need to help the teenagers by allowing them to sleep optimally and helping them understand the importance of sleep. We also need to organize their surroundings in a manner that’s compatible with their sleep cycle.

Sleep is imperative for a healthy, happy, and able future generation.