▶ Follow live updates on

Sleep training is no longer just for newborns. Some schools are taking it upon themselves to teach teenagers how to get a good night’s sleep.“It might sound odd to say that kids in high school have to learn the skills to sleep,” says Mansfield health teacher Tony Davis, who has incorporated a newly released sleep curriculum into a state-required high school health class. “But you’d be shocked how many just don’t know how to sleep.”

Adolescents burning the midnight oil is nothing new; teens are biologically programmed to stay up later as their circadian rhythms shift with puberty. But studies show teenagers are more sleep deprived than ever, and experts believe it could be playing a role in theand other problems plaguing schools, including behavioral and“Walk into any high school in America and you will see kids asleep. Whether it’s on a desk, outside on the ground or on a bench, or on a couch the school has allotted for naps — because they are exhausted,” says Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Education. Pope has surveyed high school students for more than a decade and leads parent sessions for schools around California on the importance of teen sleep. “Sleep is directly connected with mental health. There is not going to be anyone who argues with that.”

Adolescents need between eight and 10 hours of sleep each night for their developing brains and bodies. Butget less than that, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has tracked a steady decline in teen sleep since 2007. Today, most teens average 6 hours of sleep.

Research increasingly shows how tightly sleep is linked to mood, mental health and self-harm. Depression, anxiety and

as sleep goes down. Multiple studies also show links between insufficient sleep and sports injuriesfor her Halloween extravaganza.

and the Oscars race lacking a “Barbenheimer” moment, what’s there to look forward to in 2025? Well, “Wicked Part Two,” for one.Taylor Russel poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ and the opening ceremony of the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Aug. 28, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Taylor Russel poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ and the opening ceremony of the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Aug. 28, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)Hannah Einbinder arrives at the fourth annual Academy Museum Gala, Oct. 19, 2024, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)