Once your child reaches the age that they are participating in sports or other extracurricular activities, their time to sleep becomes greatly reduced. Many coaches demand early morning practices. Not only does this push them further out of their phase delay, but it also takes away opportunities for them to sleep leading to many high schoolers struggling to get enough sleep.
The lack of sleep and pushing out of the phase delay creates a huge cognitive concern. Many students will be unable to perform at their highest academic level. Not to mention the danger they become to themselves. The more sleep deprivation they build up, the slower their reaction time and the more their judgment/decision-making is impaired. Long-term wakefulness and/or sleep deprivation also leads to microsleeping.
Have you ever noticed your child super zoned out or even nod off for half a second while in the middle of doing something?If you have, then you have seen your child microsleep.
Microsleeping is when your brain stills consciousness from you without your permission or awareness. If you are aware that you are dozing off, then you have been microsleeping for a long time at that point. Microsleeping is super dangerous and common for drivers. So when your child is driving to an early morning practice and feels glossed over, they are probably microsleeping. Microsleeping is one of the biggest reasons that sleep deprivation is so dangerous for adolescents.
How can I stop my child from microsleeping?
Microsleeping is the brain's way of trying to make up for a lack of sleep. Like most debts, your sleep debt must be paid and the only accepted currency is sleep. Therefore, when your child is experiencing sleep deprivation or even a little bit of sleep loss, the only thing they can do is sleep more. To avoid sleep inertia, your child should try to catch up on sleep at different times rather than all at once.