Making the Bedroom a No Cell Zone

A report on one of our local television stations earlier this week caught my eye.  The feature included an interview with a local doctor who specializes in sleep disorders. He stated that he is seeing many teenagers who want to take the prescription drug Ambien as a solution to their sleep problems.  Teenagers needing a sleep aid: Why should I be surprised?  Teens are following a pattern of behavior they see in adults.  If we have a symptom, there must be something we can take to make it go away.  Unfortunately, all too often the problem is created by a series of poor decision involving destructive behaviors.  There are behaviors that are obviously destructive, like abusing alcohol or tobacco.  Others are more subtle, like overeating or not getting the right amount of exercise.  The reality is if we continue to make poor choices, we should not be be surprised if the outcome is bad.

So what does this have to do with teens and their inability to fall asleep?  It turns out plenty.  In this case the poor choices involve the use of electronic devices.  Many teens never turn them off.  They sleep with their cellphones next to them and think nothing of texting late into the night.  As a result their brains never really do shut down.  They might turn off the lights but their senses are on alert waiting for the next message from a friend.  As a result, they have trouble falling asleep. 

An  obvious solution would be to make the bedroom a "no cell zone" or at least set a curfew, like no use of electronic devices between 10 PM and 6 AM.  That should be expanded to include laptops and tablets, or whatever else in electronic in their room.  A great way to reinforce that is for you to follow a similar guideline. 

We are a sleep deprived nation.  The average teen only gets around seven hours of sleep a night while experts point out they need more than nine hours per night.  That could be a two hour sleep deficit every night.  To me that sounds like a pretty destructive path.  The solution to that issue is not found in medication, but in helping teens make better choices.