News you can use

News you can use

Are you sleepy? Get more sunlight! Lack of the sunlight each morning to reset the body's natural sleep clock might play a role in tweens and teens out-of-whack sleep, according to a new study.

Specialists say too few teens get the recommended nine hours of shut-eye a night. They're often unable to fall asleep until late and struggle to awaken for early classes. Sleep patterns start changing in adolescence for numerous reasons, including hormonal changes and more school, work and social demands.

Researchers turned to a North Carolina school built for energy efficiency, with lots of skylights so classrooms could reduce use of electric lights yet still be brighter than usual indoors. That allowed testing of the effects when some eighth-graders at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill suddenly lost exposure to a specific wavelength of light.

From waking until school ended, 11 students donned special orange goggles that block short-wavelength "blue light," but not other wavelengths necessary for proper vision. Blocking that light for five days upset the students' internal body clocks — delaying by half an hour their evening surge of a hormone called melatonin that helps induce sleep, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers reported Tuesday.

Teens who trudge to the bus stop before dawn or spend their days in mostly windowless schools probably suffer the same effect, as daylight is the best source of those short-wavelength rays, said lead researcher Mariana Figueiro of Rensselaer's Lighting Research Center in Troy, N.Y.

"If you have this morning light, that is a benefit to the teenagers," Figueiro said.

- Posted on February 17, 2010
Submitted by Dioselinaaba on Wednesday, 06/30/2010 - 11:05.

I think that students should go early to bed because they know that they could not sleep in the class. Specially the big kinds can not sleep in the school because they can be in a trouble.

Submitted by Amber1001 on Friday, 06/25/2010 - 12:10.

this is very true, becuase alot of kids are probably more tired when they are inside the whole day instead of being in the sun shine, that's why people turn on the lights when your sleepoing to wake you up becuz it helps you get awake. :]]

Submitted by jbhater105 on Thursday, 06/17/2010 - 18:16.

They aren't going to get up nicely because of the fact the bus comes so early. They are so tired because of home work to.

Submitted by Charlotteroxursox on Tuesday, 06/08/2010 - 19:06.

Did you know that too much sleep also causes you to be tired? I also think that this theory is wrong, because you are more awake if you are active, not if it's bright outside. I may be wrong, but to me it just makes no sense at all. I hope that they fix the theory, because I need more sleep. I agree with kevinp1 too.

Submitted by mudracer on Tuesday, 06/08/2010 - 17:45.

This would be a lot easier to do if it did not rain so much on the Olympic Peninsula. It is so hard to go out and enjoy the sunshine when it rains all the time. I wish we had more sunshine to go and enjoy.
It would be nice if when it was sunny out to be able to be outside during school time. Outdoor class work would be fun and less stressful for teachers and students. It seems when it rains we all are more tired.

Submitted by hbunnell96 on Monday, 06/07/2010 - 21:41.

This is really interesting. I knew that you need Vitamin D to be healthy, but not to help you sleep. I think students should have an outdoors class in the morning. That would be cool.