Teenagers and sleep

[ztirffritz]

My wife will tell you that teen brains are like a caterpillar going through metamorphosis. Raging hormones, synapses playing connect-the-dots in their brains like there is no tomorrow. Oh, and before she drives you absolutely bonkers, there is also some evidence that the part of the brain that connects cause and effect is often not yet wired in teens until late teens or even early 20s. So when you think 'What were you thinking!??!?!?!@#!@#!@" the answer is he/she wasn't thinking. It didn't even cross his/her mind. Wisdom comes from experience and experience comes from bad decisions. My wife often has to lead students through the entire process of connecting the dots between cause and effect.

As an example: "This project is worth 20% of your grade for the semester. If you don't complete this project the highest grade you can get is 80%. That is a 'C'. It is due next week. It will require x hours to complete most likely. That means that you'll need to work on this at least y hours per day between now and then. If you have not yet started this project you are already behind. You need to work even longer each day to get caught up."

[edgarbc1]

cbelt3 wrote:
We have the same issue with my youngest son (now 13). I have to tuck him in at night.. make sure his Dog is in bed with him, and the dog (a very polite and friendly Rat Terrier who was a rescue) engages the patented Dog Bed Magnet.... when a dog is snuggling with you, you tend to fall asleep and stay in bed.

Didn't work last night. he was reading "How to teach Physics to your Dog" and explaining it to her. And yes, he was a total pain in the tush waking up.

:thumbsup:

[Black]

tronnei wrote:
On non-school nights my 16-year-old stays up almost to dawn, then sleeps into the afternoon. Nothing I can do to change it.

Parenting requires sacrifices.
Have you thought about looking at a time zone map and relocating to the part of the globe that corresponds to this pattern?

[Drew]

One 20-year-old college student and one 14-year-old jr. high school student (both boys) in our family. During Christmas break the college one was talking about his second semester schedule. He purposefully signed up for a first period class that meets twice a week to get himself out of bed in the morning. He was going on and on about how much free time he would have during the day, as if it was his discovery. My wife and I just smiled. There's hope.

[JoeH]

Drew wrote:
One 20-year-old college student and one 14-year-old jr. high school student (both boys) in our family. During Christmas break the college one was talking about his second semester schedule. He purposefully signed up for a first period class that meets twice a week to get himself out of bed in the morning. He was going on and on about how much free time he would have during the day, as if it was his discovery. My wife and I just smiled. There's hope.

Having two college age sons in the 20+ bracket, good luck! I have heard that reasoning many times, lots of mornings where the son did not make it to that early class on time or at all. The intention might be there, but the will might not be strong enough.

[Drew]

JoeH wrote:
[quote=Drew]
One 20-year-old college student and one 14-year-old jr. high school student (both boys) in our family. During Christmas break the college one was talking about his second semester schedule. He purposefully signed up for a first period class that meets twice a week to get himself out of bed in the morning. He was going on and on about how much free time he would have during the day, as if it was his discovery. My wife and I just smiled. There's hope.

Having two college age sons in the 20+ bracket, good luck! I have heard that reasoning many times, lots of mornings where the son did not make it to that early class on time or at all. The intention might be there, but the will might not be strong enough.
I hear you Joe! We were just thrilled to hear that the thought had entered his brain all on its own.

[Ombligo]

I'm all in favor of putting teenagers to sleep.

Actuslly I fully support a euthenasia program for children.. We should place all of our Youth in Asia until they mature.

[Will Collier]

I was a night owl all through high school and college. Funny thing, after I got a real job that required me to be at work by 6:30 AM, I got over that real quick.