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When a lone mother came onto our Facebook group to look for support with her teenage son who's done very little with his summer holiday other than sleep in late I thought it was a great time to revisit this topic, and talk about the severe level of sleep deprivation our society deems acceptable, and how important sleep is for teens. They're not lazy; there are some important developmental things happening when they sleep.

That said, there are also some concrete things we parents can do to help our teens make the most of their holidays which can be a huge boost to their self-knowledge and ability to regulate themselves.

Reminding ourselves that academics are just one of the important things our kids need for life helps us to steer our focus onto other gains they can make in the holidays.

MY PREVIOUS EPISODE WITH RESEARCH ON SLEEP:

• https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/sleep-the-free-fix-for-our-teens-with-no-side-effects/

MY TIPS:

• KEY: Remove all tech from their rooms, at the very least it should be done well before they ought to go to sleep.
• Choose one life-skill a week and teach them how to do it 'perfectly' using praise and ecouragement as your weapons.
• Help them to talk about what really interests them. Be very careful not to judge whatever it is, but help them to create a routine that involves working towards their goal. Agree a regular check-in time to look again at how they're getting on, and whether it's realistic or needs adapting. This is an amazing life-skill which will protect them from 'failure to launch'.
• Book things that give the holidays structure.
• Make sure they have plenty of opportunity to spend time with their friends; social skills and socialising are vital for teens and my kids' screen time drops dramatically when she has social things to do.
• Get them used to playing games that don't involve online time. We've been loving Uno, Monopoly Deal, Kick the Can, and one unlikely hit has been Sussed which isn't a game, but a card system where each person has to ask the group questions about themselves and people in the group have to guess which they think is the right answer.

BOOK REFERENCED:

• Why Students Don't Like School by Daniel Willingham

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Susie is available for a free 15 minute consultation, and has a great blog:
www.amindful-life.co.uk