Do you ever wish that you could be young again like your teenage son or daughter? They are full of energy and life! But all too often they are also full of sleepiness.

Teenagers need more sleep than adults do. They need close to nine hours every night, on average. But, did you know that only about 15% of teens get that much sleep every night? So, 85% of the teenagers in our world are walking around without enough sleep. Even worse, it is believed that 26% of those teens get six hours or less of sleep on school nights.

Here are some things that account for too little sleep in teenagers: changing bodies, peer pressure and poor lifestyle choices. Teenagers can be at risk for health consequences caused by chronic sleepiness.

We define "teenagers" as those adolescents who are 13-19 years of age. But teen sleep issues can happen before age 13 or after age 19. Sleep habits and changing bodies both before and after the teen years relate to teenage sleep problems.

Two things influence how sleepy or alert you are during the course of a 24 hour day. The first is how long it has been since you last slept. This is called the sleep-wake balance and it means that the longer you stay awake, the sleepier you will become.

The second influence of sleepiness and alertness is your circadian rhythm or biological clock. This is your natural timing system and it lets you know when you should be asleep and when you should be awake. That is the voice telling you at night that you are sleepy!

All of us have this natural timing system. But a young person often throws off their system by staying up late or by following an ever changing sleep/wake schedule. When they do this, it causes daytime sleepiness. And this usually happens during the time of day that they need to be the most alert! Like when they are in school or while driving.

It is normal for a teenager to experience a shift in their schedules when they enter puberty. But it is still important for them to get the right amount of sleep so that they can perform their daily functions.

If you notice that your son or daughter seems to be falling into a "sleep phase delay" with their schedule, talk to them about the importance of sleep and explain to them that what they are going through is completely normal for someone their age. See a sleep specialist if intervention is needed to get them back on track.