Sleep In Metrowest Schools

Recent surveys looking at sleep patterns in Metrowest schools found:

• Only 26% of youth get 8 or more hours of sleep on an average school night.

• Youth who sleep less than eight hours per night are more likely to report poor mental health, including depressive symptoms (25% vs. 13%), self-injury (18% vs. 11%) and seriously considering suicide (18% vs. 11%).

• Reports of getting 8 or more hours of sleep decrease substantially as students get older, from 36% in 9th grade to 13% in 12th grade.

• As noted earlier, 30% of youth (38% of females and 21% of males) report sleep issues related to being stressed, anxious, or worried.

• Causes of reduced sleep include: time spent on school work/studying (42%), time spent on social media (23%), worrying about school, family, or friends (19%), and time spent on extracurricular activities (22%

These statistics are extremely worrying, forcing us to look into potential solutions to increase sleeping time for adolescents. We will be discussing solutions soon.

See you later,

Nandita and Sri