Teens trade sleep for success

Life

IN the past, the main sleep issue with teenagers was rousing them from slumber to get to class on time. These days, sleep deprivation is chronic among children.

There are several passages in the new book Overloaded And Underprepared by Denise Pope, Maureen Brown and Sarah Miles that fill me with sadness for American high school students, the most driven of whom are forever in search of a competitive edge. Some use stimulants like Adderall. Some cheat. But the part of the book that somehow got to me most was about sleep.