69ý

Student Well-Being

Don’t Just Blame Social Media for Kids’ Poor Mental Health—Blame a Lack of Sleep

By Arianna Prothero — September 06, 2024 5 min read
A young Black girl with her head down on a stack of books at her desk in a classroom
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

69ý have a powerful strategy at their disposal to help improve students’ mental health, one that doesn’t necessarily require banning cellphones: Help kids—especially adolescents—get more sleep.

There is a rich body of research showing that poor sleep leads to poor mental health, said Andrew Fuligni, a psychology professor and director of the Adolescent Development Lab at UCLA. And it’s a link that is getting overlooked in the current frenzy over cellphones and social media, he said.

“The evidence for sleep and mental health is much stronger than the evidence for social media and mental health,” he said. “Added to the mix, adolescents in the United States are getting less and less sleep over the last 15 years or so. I want to highlight that because this is not discussed as much in the national conversation about mental health as it should be.”

Fuligni made these remarks during a webinar about adolescent mental health hosted by the Frameworks Institute, a nonprofit organization that studies strategic communications around social issues.

That’s not to say that social media doesn’t affect students’ mental health, but there’s less research into the connection, and of the research that exists, the findings are mixed.

Meanwhile, a lack of sleep does more than hurt kids’ mental health—adolescents who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to have behavior and attention problems as well as higher risks of obesity, diabetes, and injury.

The vast majority of by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Also, inequalities in which groups of students are getting better sleep quality exacerbate some of the educational inequalities that schools are already grappling with, Fuligni said.

69ý from low-income households are more likely to have parents who work irregular schedules which can throw off sleep routines, he said, while students living in urban areas are more likely to have their sleep disrupted by noise and light pollution.

Sleep quality and consistency—such as whether a student’s sleep is getting interrupted throughout the night or whether a student is going to bed at the same time every night—is also important to adolescent mental health and brain development.

Districts consider changing school start times

To address the inadequate sleep today’s adolescents are getting, there has been a growing movement among some districts and states to push back start times for middle and high school to better align with natural shifts in adolescents’ sleep needs and patterns.

Adolescents are hard-wired to go to bed and sleep in later, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that schools shouldn’t start before 8:30 a.m. for adolescents. An increasing amount of research shows that pushing back school start times can improve teens’ learning and well-being, according to the AAP.

See also

Silhouette of a woman hanging from the hour arm of a clock set at 9.
DigitalVision Vectors

But changing school start times is no easy task, said Kent Pekel, the superintendent of Rochester Public 69ý in Minnesota. Three years ago, his district pushed back start times for middle and high school. Adjusting start times for a district that covers more than 200 square miles is challenging when taking into account the fact that some students have to get on the bus an hour and a half before school starts, he said.

The district worked with an independent sleep researcher to measure the effects of the schedule changes, Pekel said during the webinar.

“We found that we got benefits in the quality of sleep and the amount of sleep for the high school kids when we moved to that very nice, after 8 a.m. start time,” he said. “The problem was starting the elementary schools at 9:35 proved to be disastrous because we were missing prime learning time for little kids who wake up ready to learn.”

This year, the 17,500-student district has reshuffled start times again and managed to work out a schedule with elementary and high schools starting at 8 a.m., and middle schools starting at 8:30.

Encouraging healthy sleep habits for students

However, simply giving students more time to sleep in doesn’t mean they will automatically get good sleep. To do that, they need better sleep routines and environments—regular bedtimes, quiet and dark spaces, and no screens close to bedtime. While schools don’t have direct control over kids’ sleeping environments, they can help educate families about creating good sleep environments, said Fuligni.

“Physiologically, we are incredibly sensitive to light, to routine, to noise, to hubbub, to all of the things going on in the home,” he said. “Just telling adolescents to go to sleep earlier is not going to work. We need to educate folks how to set up a sleep-sensitive environment: having an agreement within the family about when is a reasonable time to go to bed, keeping phones outside of the room. Parents need to be thinking about things they’re doing in the home, are they staying up too late?”

Access to cellphones can hurt the quality of kids’ sleep if kids are skipping out on sleep to scroll on social media. The content they see on social media, as well as the light from the screen, also stimulates the brain and makes it harder to fall asleep.

Messaging the importance of sleep in a way adolescents will be receptive to has proven to be somewhat tricky, said Pekel.

A straightforward campaign on the benefits of sleep that his district tried initially appeared to fall flat with students. Pekel hopes that a new approach—discussing the benefits of sleep as part of a broader education initiative about wellness—will do better.

There’s research to suggest that reframing how sleep will benefit students will work, said Nat Kendall-Taylor, the CEO of Frameworks Institute and an expert in strategic communications, during the webinar. Trying too hard to persuade adolescents to do something can backfire, he said.

“But explaining the role that sleep plays in the larger conversation around being and feeling well, our research shows is a much more effective strategy to build understanding and influence behavior,” he said. “This move from persuasion to explanation [is] a really powerful strategy.”

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Student Well-Being Opinion 3 Things You Need to Know About Absenteeism
We studied the data from more than 1.5 million students. Here’s are some overlooked insights to boost attendance.
Todd Rogers, Emily Bailard & Mikia Manley
4 min read
Scattered school desks seen from above, some with red x's on them signifying absences.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and iStock/Getty Images
Student Well-Being SEL Has Become Politicized. 69ý Are Embracing It Anyway
Eighty-three percent of principals report that their schools use an SEL curriculum or program.
5 min read
Image of positive movement when attending to a student's well-being is a component.
Dmitrii_Guzhanin/iStock/Getty and Laura Baker/Education Week
Student Well-Being 69ý Don't Want to Talk About Politics, Either
The election is occurring at a time when many schools are discouraged from having tough conversations in class.
6 min read
Viewers gather to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio.
Viewers gather to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. Researchers say students are more reluctant to talk politics this election cycle.
Eric Gay/AP
Student Well-Being Opinion Can Athletic Coaches Help 69ý Learn More in the Classroom?
School sports can provide an opportunity for mentorship.
8 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty