With the advent of mobiles and Social Media teenagers off late are seen spending more time texting, browsing and chatting till late nights . This is effecting their sleep patterns and in turn affecting their health. These normal sleep disturbances, combined with teenagers' natural tendency to stay up late, can make them excessively tired, irritable, impatient and depressed. All of which suggests that helping your teenager to get enough sleep is a good idea. A series of small Scottish studies found that 20% of teenagers fell asleep in class at least once over a two-week period.

The lack of sleep affects the teenage brain in similar ways to the adult brain. Chronic sleep deprivation in adolescents diminishes the brain’s ability to learn new information, and can lead to emotional issues like depression and aggression. Researchers now see sleep problems as a cause, and not a side effect, of teenage depression.

Solutions

•    A regularity of bedtime and waking-up time every day  is a must . You could give them an off on Saturday  or  Sunday as it is  a holiday.
•    Restrict the usage of Social Media and Television at night. Teenagers should be encouraged not to be available 24 hours a day on their mobiles, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Negotiating the limits of time spent using technology with a teenager is never easy and neither is encouraging them to go to bed. But you should probably try.
•    Encourage them to play a game or sport regularly, getting stuck to the TV or whatsapping on the mobile isn’t helping them to physically tire their bodies.
•    In one study by researchers at Columbia University, teens who went to bed at 10 p.m. or earlier were less likely to suffer from depression or suicidal thoughts than those who regularly stayed awake well after midnight.