Most teenagers own phones. This is an obvious no-brainer, just take a look at the teens you see in public. Go to any mall, and you will notice them walking around in groups, all with phones in hand. Looking up some stats, most people seem to agree that the percentage of teenagers who own a cell phone is 75% -ish.
Now, as a highly reliable source myself, I’d say that 75%-ish of teens are also very sleep deprived. It’s easy to notice- the yawns, the glazed over look, the desire to put their heads down on their desk- but does this mean your class is boring or you should be worried that they are on some type of muscle relaxer? Nope. Recent studies are showing that those 75%-ish of teens are texting, and texting, and texting, even after they go to bed. An article on MSNBC details how, “Teens send an average of 34 texts a night (adding up to 3,400 a month) after going to bed — in some cases up to four hours after hitting the sack,” which is research they gathered from the JFK Medical Center.
I teach at the weird age when a kid has a phone but still has a bedtime.When talking to parents, concerns about if their child is getting enough sleep do come up. The parent is always baffled, because a bedtime is enforced, and previously I have been pretty confused as well. However, it’s easy to see how you would have no idea that your son or daughter was texting hours after they “went to bed.”
So as a teacher, I encourage you to talk to that persistently sleepy kid and ask, “Are you texting at night?” “Do you put your phone on silent when it is time to sleep?” Talk to the parents as well. This is something they can help their child fix, you can only bring it to their attention.
For the complete article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39917869/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/
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