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Parenting Facts
The consequences to teen sleep deprivation
are more serious than classrooms
full of sleepy kids. Helene Emsellem, medical director of the Center for
Sleep & Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Md., and author of "Snooze . . . or
Lose!" wrote her in book that there are physical, emotional, academic and
behavioral effects:
• Going without enough sleep can make a teen more likely to get sick. Why?
Because the number of T-cells in the body -- cells that help us stay
healthy --falls by 30 to 40 percent.
• Sleep-deprived teens get more headaches than those that don't.
• Students who earn C's and below go to sleep later and have less regular
sleep patterns than students who get better grades. Sleep affects learning
and memory.
• Sleep-deprived teens are more likely to use alcohol and drugs than those
who don't.
