Digital media can be a source of education or ignorance, connection or isolation, growth or depletion. We want to continue the conversation about technology use between students, parents, and teachers and examine if the ways we use technology forge character, foster wisdom, and facilitate lifelong learning.
SLOCA is only a small part of your student’s life; what happens at home makes an even bigger difference. This blog series, TECH TOPICS, is intended to present you with information we feel can be incredibly impactful, raise awareness, and prevent complacency. Not only that, we hope these posts can provide ideas for positive ways to use technology: we are tech-mindful, not anti-tech. We encourage you to look at the research, consider your own values, and develop an intentional framework for technology use as a family. And lean on our community for support, ideas, and help!
Ah, sleep. The vast majority of us do not get enough of it. What sort of images play out in your head when you consider sleep in your adult years? Perhaps images of struggling to get your young child to sleep, or a newborn crying late into the night. Maybe it’s watching “just one more episode” on Netflix and regretting it in the morning. Or perhaps that tell-tale blue light reflecting on your teenager’s face as they are snuggled up in bed…scrolling at midnight.
Problems with sleep, whether getting to sleep, staying asleep, or just not getting enough of it, have been around for years–but have recently exploded into a massive problem. It should come as no surprise that many studies are tying this uptick in sleep deprivation, in large part, to smartphone use. In Jonathan Haidt’s Anxious Generation, he lists sleep deprivation as one of the four foundational harms caused by the new phone-based childhood. Let’s get into what kind of sleep our kids need, what they’re getting, and why this matters.
What is needed
Children need 9 to 12 hours of sleep for optimal health and teens need 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night—more than most adults who only need seven to nine hours (from this Study from American Academy of Sleep Medicine). The onset of puberty means a shift in natural sleep patterns; teens naturally will go to sleep later, but also need to rise early for school. Sleep is essential to how well you can function, even more so during puberty because the brain is rewiring itself so rapidly. Additionally, deep stages of sleep are required for learning and memory.
What they’re getting and the role of digital media
Studies show that approximately 50% of 8th-grade and high school students are getting less than 7 hours of sleep on most nights. The Anxious Generation shares a review of 36 correlational studies that found significant associations between high social media use and poor sleep.
One experiment found that adolescents who restricted their use of screens after 9pm on school nights for 2 weeks showed increased total sleep time, earlier onset sleep times, and improved performance on a task that required focused attention and quick reactions (does a teen driver come to anyone else’s mind when they read that? Yikes!). There can be no doubt that late-night screen use is disruptive to sleep. In his book iGen, Jean Twenge illuminates: “Electronic devices and social media seem to be unique in their effect on sleep compared to other forms of media.
Teens who read books or magazines are actually less likely to be sleep deprived–either reading puts them to sleep, or they can put the book down at bedtime. TV time is barely related to sleep time. The allure of the smartphone, its blue light glowing in the dark, is often too much to resist.” This is not restricted to social media; sleep is also deprived by highly stimulating on-screen activities such as mobile gaming and video streaming.
Why This Matters
As children and teens are getting less sleep than their brains and bodies need, the effects on their performance in life and school are profound. According to Haidt, sleep-deprived teens cannot concentrate, focus, or remember as well as teens who get sufficient sleep. Their learning and their grades suffer. So do their reaction times, decision-making, and motor skills, which elevates their risk of accidents. They are more irritable and anxious throughout the day, damaging their relationships. If sleep deprivation goes on long enough, other physiological systems become perturbed, leading to weight fluctuation, immune suppression, and other health problems—notably depression.
“Teens who don’t sleep enough are more than twice as likely to report higher levels of depressive symptoms (31% do, versus only 12% for those who sleep more). Teens who sleep less than seven hours a night are also 68% more likely to have at least one risk factor for suicide.”
– Jean Twenge, iGen
Imagine the impact on younger children and adults. Teens are not alone. All signs point to the screen-related decline of sleep as a contributor to the massive increase in adolescent mental illness we are seeing in recent years. We should not–as parents, a community, and a society–take this lightly.
What to do?
This is one area where modeling healthy behavior is especially impactful. And besides, chances are, YOU need more sleep too! A few recommended behaviors related to sleep + screens:
- Keep screens out of the bedroom. Yes, we know you’ve heard this one before, but there’s a reason for that. According to Twenge (iGen), no one, adults included, should sleep with their phone in their bedroom.
- Turn off the internet at 10pm (or earlier!). Did you know you can set up many routers to make the internet unavailable for a certain period of time? This lessens temptation and makes it easier for the whole family to get the rest they need. Check out SLOCA parent Noah Stokes’ presentation to get more practical advice about technology in the home.
- TIP: Buy an inexpensive (or fancy) alarm clock if you or your teen use a phone as an alarm!
- Set up evening time to spend together (think big yes’s from Keith McCurdy! Refer to our last Tech blog post for more!), playing a card game, watching a movie, talking to one another, or just going for a walk. It will likely end up being the best part of your day.
Discussion
- What activities do you usually do on your devices before bed?
- How does your phone/screen usage impact your sleep?
- What changes would you like to make when it comes to screens and bedtime for both you and your children?
Recommended Resources
- Anxious Generation
- iGen
- Boys Adrift: This book delves into how social, cultural, and biological factors have created an environment that is literally toxic to boys.
- From Common Sense Media: The New Normal: Parents, Teens, Screens and Sleep
- Boston Children’s Digital Wellness Survey: Adolescent Media Use: Attitudes, Effects, and Online Experiences.
