The sleep deficit would be corrected when the school day started later.
Tampere has recommended that high schools and Helsinki also high schools start school day early at half past nine. In many schools, the recommendation has not been reached. However, delaying research would increase young people’s sleep, says a professor of experimental brain research Anu-Katriina Pesonen From the University of Helsinki.
How does the start of school lessons later in the morning show in sleep?
Large studies show that part of the later school start time goes to sleep. If the school day is delayed by an hour, it can take about half an hour to prolong sleep.
I think it’s not just about prolonging sleep that matters. Due to procrastination, the most sleepy in the morning are more likely to complete school and survive the school day.
Don’t teens just supervise longer if they know they can stay in bed longer in the morning?
It is feared that young people would just postpone their bedtime and there would be no point in delaying school days. However, two-year longitudinal studies in the same adolescents have shown that the benefit remains.
How much sleep is needed then?
The young people have had studies in which they have been allowed to sleep in the laboratory for as long as they want. They sleep for about 9.2 hours, and it has been concluded that this would be a need for sleep.
According to no demographic survey, young people do not sleep for nine hours. However, that does not mean it is a sleep deprivation. It is known from adult studies that there is a lot of individual variation in the need for sleep. Some do well in six hours and others need nine.
How common is the sleep deprivation of young people?
More than half of young people sleep too little. This is largely due to the fact that evening drowsiness is delayed and schools start early.
There is a lot of daytime fatigue. About 15 per cent of young people aged 16–17 in Helsinki go to bed at least three times a week. So it is clear that you are not getting enough sleep.
Why go to bed?
Two biological things are thought to affect this. First, young people tolerate sleep pressure better. Sleep pressure arises when we are awake long enough and are able to fall asleep. In adolescents, the relationship between sleep pressure and falling asleep is not as close as in adults.
Hurry and pressure have made falling asleep more difficult than before.
In addition, the 24-hour rhythm becomes later in adolescence. Delay begins in early adolescence and continues into young adulthood. For some, it may be even more delayed for genetic reasons.
What role do social factors play in young people’s sleep deprivation?
It is difficult to say which proportion is due to biological and which to social factors. You can catch a dream when you have both physically and mentally let go of the day and are able to relax.
We are all in a hurry and we are constantly in touch with a wide range of issues. Relaxing and getting to sleep has become much more challenging than it was in my own youth.
The pressures at school are also greater. There is huge competition for postgraduate study places in some Asian countries, with young people sleeping there significantly less than in Europe. It may be inferred from this that the sleep deprivation is not only due to friends, but there is also social pressure behind it.
How do small dreams hurt a schoolboy?
Sleep is a state of the brain’s Active in which neural networks are organized and it affects memory, emotions, action control, and alertness. Young people with persistent sleep deprivation therefore have a huge public health significance.
If you are struggling in high school with whether you can go to school in the morning, it will have a big impact on the transition to and success in further education.
How could a young person improve their sleep?
There is a lot of talk that parents should take care of their children’s sleep, but that is not enough. My medicine is that young people themselves are interested in their sleep and want to understand it in the same way that they seek autonomy in other things and learn to take care of the needs of their bodies. Those for whom ERP is more difficult need adult support.
Published in Science 12/2021.
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