“A 24/7 environment has the semblance of social world, but it is actually a non-social model of mechanic performance and a suspension of living that does not disclose the human cost required to sustain its effectiveness”– Jonathan Crary

The fact is that there is strong evidence that teenager’s biological clock is not compatible with the sleep schedule the rest of the society runs on and this model is referred to as “The Perfect Storm” and yet we continue to ignore it and then wonder why are our kids are so tired and agitated.

The fact is that global data is showing that the total sleep time in teens is averaging around 7 -7.5 hour which is two hours shorter than what they need on a daily basis.

The fact is that loosing those two hours of sleep in the morning means compromising their REM sleep aka dream sleep which is crucial for emotional regulation and creativity.

The fact is that there is a strong correlation between sleep restriction/deprivation and anxiety, depression and addiction, and that depressed and anxious individuals have much worse sleep, compounding the issue.

The fact is that the teens are the largest youth cohort in the history of humanity, 1.8 billion with 90% living in low-and -middle income countries and are currently at # 4 on the Global Burden of Disease list for anxiety, depression and addiction.

The fact is that the cost of dealing with addiction in Canada for a teenager is approximately around $ 80,000- 120,000.
The fact is that overall cost in terms of dealing with mental health and development of our children outweighs any costs incurred from changing the system to fix this.