Another week and another study saying teenagers need more coddling.
This latest one out of the United States says high school start times should be made later because the poor dears aren't getting enough sleep. Not only are their grades affected but it is contributing to traffic accidents, the latest report argues, as these zombie quasi-adults lurch through the day, eyes wide shut.
Unfortunately, this study is the latest well-meaning effort to treat the symptoms, rather than the cause of the problem.
Starting high school later makes about as much sense as making each day have 26 hours so our precious darlings have two extra hours to find themselves and it does nothing to address the real question: why aren't teenagers getting enough sleep?
Once the probing starts into that question, the stereotype of the spoiled, lazy teenager quickly evaporates and the real culprits - parents, employers and teachers - come into view.
Too many teachers are saddled with a curriculum that is boring and irrelevant and too few teachers are inspired enough to find creative ways to invigorate both the lessons and their teaching style. It's no wonder the kids fall asleep because, except for the fact the material may or may not be on the final exam, no effort is made to explain why knowledge of gravitational force, dangling modifiers, Canada's constitutional government and how to have a basic conversation in French are important details for young Canadians heading out into the adult world.
To hammer home the point and demonstrate how important education is, teachers send students how with hours of homework each night, writing papers, preparing PowerPoint presentations and studying for lengthy exams.
Except homework isn't the only thing on the plate for many students after school. If they don't competing on school teams, they are taking part in other athletic and artistic endeavours that involve their parents investing thousands of dollars per year in equipment, coaching, rehearsal and travel. Many of these "hobbies" eat up hours each day in devoted physical effort and deep concentration.
Then there are jobs for young people, both paid and volunteer. With a low unemployment rate in Prince George, employers in the retail and service sector quickly identify young workers that show aptitude, maturity and effort, then push as many hours as possible on them as possible, including closing shifts on week nights.
Finally, well-meaning parents want their kids carrying and using the latest electronic communication devices, partly to keep track of them and partly so that they have what everyone else has. As a result, kids always have their friends with them, through texting, instant messaging, chatting while playing in online game forums and catching up on social media, all easily accessible through the home computer or the smartphone.
Putting the phone down or logging off means they might miss something important so their downtime is actually their time to socialize, alone and in the darkness of their rooms, all tethered to each other with endless lines of binary code. Teenagers are certainly addicted to TV, games and their phones but they are no worse than many adults in this regard, so that's a pot-calling-the-kettle-black argument. Adults are old enough to know better, teenagers not so much.
Parents, if you want your teenager to sleep at night, disconnect the home wifi and take every electronic device out of their bedrooms except for the radio clock. Stop registering your kids in so many extracurricular activities. Tell their employers that they will never work past 8 p.m. on weeknights, 11 p.m. on weekends or more than 16 hours per week during the school year. Demand teachers justify three hours of chemistry homework in a single night. Teach your child about time management, setting priorities and how a good night's sleep every night will boost their grades and their productivity.
It is the adults who are failing teenagers and now they are failing them again, by urging a later start time for high school, instead of addressing the true causes behind this serious problem. That failure doesn't seem to be causing many adults with teenagers in their lives to lose sleep at night.
