Benefits of Sleep In Teens Include Higher School Grades

Giving teenagers more time to sleep helps boost their concentration levels, and consequently grades in school, according to a leading head teacher.

A leading head teacher has advised teenagers to hit the bed more often as adequate sleep can help boost their concentration levels, and consequently improve their grades in school.

Dr Paul Kelley, head of the successful Monkseaton Community High in North Tyneside, has urged other schools to increase their timing to 11am.

About Hypersomnia
Hyper means “excessive” and somnia refers to “sleep”, so hypersomnia is excessively long or deep sleep despite sleeping for several hours at night.

Studies have shown that young peoples' brains are wired differently to adults'.

A research led by Professor Russell Foster, chairman of Circadian Neuroscience at Brasenose College, Oxford, showed that students' brains work better in the afternoon.

Foster revealed that body clocks shifted as children enter their teen years, many got up late as they were biologically programmed to do so and not because they were lazy.

About Sleep Disorder
Sleep disorders can either be having difficulty in getting sleep or dozing off at inappropriate time.

Kelley said that lack of sleep could affect pupils' mental and physical well-being as well as their education.

"Teenagers aren't lazy. We're depriving them of the sleep they need through purely biological factors beyond their control," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

About Sleep Disturbances
The physical, emotional and hormonal changes that occur in women during puberty, menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause can cause Sleep Disturbances

"The research carried out by Professor Foster showed that, from the age of 10, our internal body clocks shift, so it's good for young people to stay in bed.

"They peak at 20 then gradually go back again, but body clocks do not reach the pre-teenage level until around 55 years old.

Sleep Problems In Children Might Affect Later Executive Functioning
According to a new study, childhood sleep problems that persist through adolescence may adversely affect cognitive abilities.

"The 'time shift' is two hours on average, so teenagers should get up two hours later.

"We are making teenagers ratty by getting them up early," he added.

Last year, students of Kelly's school scored up to 90 per cent in a GCSE science paper after just an hour of teaching. They were given three 20-minute bursts of intensive teaching with slides, interspersed with 10-minute breaks for physical exercise.

Source-ANI
TAN/L