August 2019
John S. Graves, III article about local boys growing up in the forty’s talks about what was life like…simple with values. Why are so many families moving to our region, ultimately it is to fulfill their dreams. We hope that one person who reads Kasia’s article will fill their dreams by seeing what hard work and perseverance accomplishes… Parents, check out why teenagers are in a different time zone, and how to help them understand it is part of growing up. For certain, those who have sent their child off to school will shed a tear reminiscing with Gene Cashman. You had to know that Amber Hester-Kuhen, Blufftons Environmentalist, would tell us some things about those monsters we call no-see-ems, and their cousin the mosquito. Oh, and let’s change our Latitude in Margarettaville. How to grow older without growing up! Do it. Enjoy, let us hear from you, and don’t forget to tell people where you shop and eat, that they should be in The Breeze.
John S. Graves, III article about local boys growing up in the forty’s talks about what was life like…simple with values. Why are so many families moving to our region, ultimately it is to fulfill their dreams. We hope that one person who reads Kasia’s article will fill their dreams by seeing what hard work and perseverance accomplishes… Parents, check out why teenagers are in a different time zone, and how to help them understand it is part of growing up. For certain, those who have sent their child off to school will shed a tear reminiscing with Gene Cashman. You had to know that Amber Hester-Kuhen, Blufftons Environmentalist, would tell us some things about those monsters we call no-see-ems, and their cousin the mosquito. Oh, and let’s change our Latitude in Margarettaville. How to grow older without growing up! Do it.
Enjoy, let us hear from you, and don’t forget to tell people where you shop and eat, that they should be in The Breeze.
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LIFESTYLES<br />
OF THE <strong>2019</strong> SEA TU<br />
Teens Live in a Different Time Zone Biologically<br />
So How Can Parents Help?<br />
By Kimberly Blaker<br />
Teen sleep habits are an ongoing frustration and battle for<br />
countless parents. Many teens stay up into the wee hours of<br />
the night. Then they struggle to wake up during the week<br />
for school and sleep through the day on weekends.<br />
But sleep is crucial to adolescents’ well being. School-age<br />
kids between ages 6 and 13 need nine to eleven hours of<br />
sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation.<br />
Teens, from ages 14 to 17, need eight to ten hours. Yet,<br />
studies find only a small percentage of teens are getting the<br />
necessary sleep.<br />
The problem, as experts point out, is that during puberty,<br />
teens’ circadian rhythm shifts. In earlier childhood, kids<br />
begin feeling sleepy around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. But during<br />
adolescence, sleepiness doesn’t set in until around 10:00 or<br />
11:00 p.m. This is called ‘sleep phase delay’ and is likely<br />
caused by a delay in the release of the body’s melatonin.<br />
Sleep phase delay, however, isn’t the only reason teens don’t<br />
get enough sleep. Increased demands on their time, ranging<br />
from additional household responsibilities and homework<br />
to extracurricular activities, socializing with friends, and<br />
media use also contribute to teens’ shortage of sleep.<br />
So what’s a parent to do? In a perfect world, all high schools<br />
would adjust the school day to begin and end at least an<br />
hour or so later each day. This would make it easier for<br />
teens to get the sleep they need and would benefit students<br />
significantly.<br />
To exemplify this, Kyla L. Wahlstrom et. al. conducted a<br />
3-year study of 9,000 students. The study, reported in<br />
“Examining the Impact of Later High School Start Times<br />
on the Health and Academic Performance of High School<br />
Students: A Multi-Site Study,” found in high schools that<br />
start the day at 8:30 a.m. or later students reap several<br />
benefits.<br />
First, 60% of the students were able to get at least eight hours<br />
of sleep per night during the school week. Those gaining the<br />
extra rest also had lower rates of depression and caffeine use<br />
and were at lower risk for substance use. These students had<br />
better academic performance and achievement test scores<br />
as well and a reduction in tardiness. Also, in communities<br />
where schools shifted the start time to 8:55 a.m., teen traffic<br />
accidents were significantly reduced.<br />
If you’d like to see later start times implemented at your<br />
teen’s school, talk to other parents in your district about<br />
the teen sleep dilemma and share with them the benefits<br />
of later school hours. Then create a concerted effort to take<br />
the issue up with the school board. Keep in mind, this is a<br />
longer-term solution that won’t likely be implemented until<br />
at least the following school year. But once implemented,<br />
it’ll improve your teen’s chance for success in future years<br />
and pave the way for other kids who will soon be entering<br />
high school.<br />
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