OP here. Thanks for the responses.

A few observations. First, I think there's some truth to the idea that his body clock is shifting later. He is certainly a hell of a lot more energetic at 10pm than I am. He seems to need some down time right after school before digging in to homework, and that's understandable.

Second, I understand the point about smartphones. He has one, as of the start of this school year, and there is certainly some jerking around on the phone going on. Not a ton, but not a trivial amount either. I'm torn, because he's basically hard working and if he needs/wants to zone out a little while in the afternoons that seems reasonable to me. But obviously it's an issue if he's spending so much time on the phone it interferes with other things. I'm not seeing that yet, but I'm keeping an eye on it. I also think these devices are going to be part of our lives for the foreseeable future, and 15 is not too young to start figuring out how to make them work for you and not vice versa. But obviously opinions about that may differ.

In 10th grade I would go to bed at 9pm

The school bus would pick me up at 6.15 with a 6.30 start time.

Anonymous wrote:The question is why is a 15yr old sophomore taking college courses? Take away the pressure and your child will have a better life and sleep.

Op's son is taking one AP course and mostly honors courses. Honors courses aren't college level, just that one AP course is college level. Yes, that is young for a college level course but it really depends on the kid taking the course.

My son is doing a rec sport and taking some honors classes. He goes to bed by 10pm usually. Game nights he goes to bed a little later.

The question is why is a 15yr old sophomore taking college courses? Take away the pressure and your child will have a better life and sleep.

Anonymous wrote:I know it's the end of third quarter and there are a lot of assignments coming due, but my 10th grader (at Whitman) didn't get to bed until close to 1:00 last night. Midnight bedtime is a pretty frequent occurrence too. He is in mostly honors classes (and one AP). Not doing a sport, so it's not like he has after-school practices going on.

Is this typical?

Sounds right to me. I have a 9th grader and she does homework after dinner until about ten. Occasionally she'll have something that keeps her up until 12 or 1 but that doesn't seem hard on her. It wouldn't work for me, I'm drowsy by then, but it seems to be her most productive time. She doesn't seem pressured or anxious. She wakes up at 6:30 and this takes some doing but not really that bad. She doesn't say she's tired during school. She seems to need the afternoons to unwind whether structured activity or otherwise, she's not doing school work then.

Are the kids really getting that much homework? Or are they doing it around lots of screen time activities and texting. Do they take weekends off? If you told me your child comes home from a sport at 6 and then works part time in the evening and then does homework I could imagine needing to be up till midnight or later.

Shouldn't we parents be demanding that schools put less pressure and assign less homework?? Sounds like we are all in agreement that this is unhealthy. Are we advocating for our children if we don't say anything? Sleep deprivation is linked to depression, car accidents, and lower school and test performance. I am all for later school day start.

Mine does a sport and another significant activity. 1 AP class. He goes to bed by 10 (sometimes earlier). He does not have a smart phone and I think that keeps him focused on HW for the time he has. If OP's child is not doing a sport or other activity, I will assume he is home around 3. I would assume that there is a lot going on besides HW during the 9 hours between 3 and midnight...

I know what the research says but somehow many kids seem to be up much later than they were when I was a teen.

during all the bell times discussion last year, the presentations emphasized how adolescents and teens typically are up until midnight and later because that is their natural circadian rhythm. It lasts until about age 25.

The bedtimes don't really surprise me based on what they said.

I don't know how much can really be done about it.

quite often around 1am, but my child plays both school and travel sports year round, so practices run late. I hate it but it's hard to put an end to it. DC insists on the sports and until I see a real reason to put my foot down, I can't do it. Junior year is supposedly really hard, and we are already planning to scale back on the extracurriculars.

My ninth grader typically goes to bed at 11 or later. He gets up at 6:30.

It is nowhere near enough sleep IMO but I cannot seem to do anything about it.

His 18yo brother is in bed at 10PM every night.

I know it's the end of third quarter and there are a lot of assignments coming due, but my 10th grader (at Whitman) didn't get to bed until close to 1:00 last night. Midnight bedtime is a pretty frequent occurrence too. He is in mostly honors classes (and one AP). Not doing a sport, so it's not like he has after-school practices going on.

Is this typical?