“These college students are going to class with a ton of sleep debt, and they’re having trouble staying focused and learning in college classrooms,” Creswell informed. “Sleep debt can harm your ability to engage with the study material.”

Consequently, children, including newborns and toddlers, struggle to obtain sufficient sleep amid late bedtimes and early wake-up calls. Teenagers face additional challenges stemming from modern lifestyles, including biological shifts in their circadian rhythms, leading to delayed sleep onset and later waking times.

The production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, occurs approximately 2 hours later in teenagers compared to adults, exacerbating their difficulty in adhering to early school start times. This issue is compounded by excessive screen time.

Consequently, teenagers experience adverse effects on their physical health, mental well-being, and academic performance due to insufficient sleep caused by early school hours.