When you rest well and sleep your body repairs all the damages that have happened to the body. So, what happens when you sleep less? Compromising sleep can make things harder for the body, especially when a teenager does it. As the teenage is the time that the boy goes through countless changes, nutrition, and sleep are one of the two basic and most important things that you have to take care of.
What are the factors that cause the teens to sleep less? Many say it is mobile phones and such devices. Are teens really addicted to screen time? Let us find out about teen sleep habits and less screen time.
Teen And Tech: Does Screen Time Affect Teen Sleep?
As the world is fast-forwarding, the impact that technology has made in your lives is bigger. It has become an integral part of our lives and schooling and learning can not be separated from this. When you look around and notice, you can find that all teenagers have access to at least one screen-based device.
Screen time has been found to be one of the most common factors that kill sleep for many teenagers. When they lose sleep after screen time, they will return to screen time again and this will ultimately lead to insomnia. Therefore, teen sleep habits and less screen time can be said as a single sentence.
How Does Screen Time Affect Teen Sleep?
When you stare at the screen, the brain gets stimulated. Most of the time the mobile, the lap, or the tab will be closer to the face, and all the light and sound will result in smuggling the brain.
The human brain, when it has worked for a whole day, is set in a way to automatically slow down and go to rest mode or sleep mode at night. However, the brain does not completely sleep. A hormone namely melatonin is needed for you to get sleepy. But when the brain gets stimulated at night, it will have a direct impact on the production of this hormone, it gets decreased.
Without melatonin, you will not be able to fall asleep. So when you are not sleepy, you will get back to using the mobile, and this will result in you getting the very minimum amount of sleep. When this goes on for days it develops as a cycle, interrupting the natural rhythm and the biological clock of the body.
Related: Social Media Depression In Teens – What Parents Need to Know?
How To Reduce Teen Screen Time?
If you have given sufficient screen time to your teen, then they will not be much affected when you ask them to stop using the screen at night. When you excessively restrict them, they might not listen to you.
To Take Away
The relationship between teen sleep habits and less screen time has been explored in this article. Know the requirements that your teen has with smartphones and other devices and know how much of it is for learning and how much is for fun and entertainment. You should help your teen reduce screen time by practicing that and showing that to them.
Playing video games is also a part of screen time and making a proper schedule on how much screen time they need and want. If your teen has higher screen time present. Do not cut it down all of a sudden. Initially, make some restrictions, and gently reach your goal of healthy screen time for your teen.
FAQs
Most of the teenagers should get 8 to 10 hours of sleep every day. For a teenager, it is ideal to sleep at night, as that is deemed as the time to let the body rest and get a sound sleep.
Yes, screen time can reduce sleep in teenagers. When you stare at the screen for hours continuously, the brain will not make you sleepy.
No, any age is not too old for screen time. It is recommended to reduce screen time for better sleep for people of all age groups.
