by Anthony Poluyanoff

According to a Mayo Clinic article from March 2013, more than 90 percent of all teenagers surveyed said they slept less than the recommended nine hours, and 10 percent reported said they slept less than six hours on average. Sleep regulation by parents may be beneficial for the health of teenagers. It may prevent depression and suicide, according to a USA Today article from October 2009.

“I think for most kids, they don’t need their parents to tell them when to go to bed,” English teacher Elon Fischer said. “That’s one of the things that kids should be able to manage themselves. Once you’re 14, 15, 16 years old, you should be responsible enough to figure that out for yourself.”

Fischer has a daughter, a freshman at the school, whom he expects to be able to regulate her own sleep.

“We encourage her to get enough sleep,” Fischer said. “Our expectation is that she is able to get up in the morning.”

Fischer is not the only one who takes this approach to monitoring sleep.

“I have no regulation whatsoever,” one student said. “I am the only one in charge of when I go to sleep.”

Senior Joseph Schiarizzi’s parents also do not set a bedtime. However, Schiarizzi said he finds sleeping enough to be beneficial for his academic performance.

“I figured out on my own that I need at least eight hours, so I try to get as much as I can,” Schiarizzi said. “[It] helps you concentrate.”

Some parents are more involved in their children’s sleep schedule. Junior Yiorgos Karaminas said while he does not have a specific bedtime, his parents encourage him to get proper amounts of sleep.

“They don’t want me going to sleep very late,” Karaminas said. “They don’t strictly enforce a bedtime, but it’s more frowned upon if I go to sleep late.”

“When I go to sleep late it’s because I have work, because I haven’t been managing my time that day,” Karaminas said.

Another student said he believes his parents’ hands-off approach to his sleep schedule helps his organizational skills and well-being.

“I think it has a positive impact because I go to sleep early,” that same student said. “[If] I would go to sleep late, I think it would have a negative impact because I’d just be more tired for school.”

Anthony Poluyanoff can be contacted at [email protected].