Adolescents have a tendency to follow a delayed sleep pattern. This means that their preferred sleep phase occurs later in the evening to later in the morning, which obviously causes a problem with early start times of most schools. The adolescent who stays up late playing video games is considered combatant and the adolescent who won’t wake for school is considered lazy. In fact, these adolescents are merely following their biologic drive to sleep. It is unfortunate that western society has not recognized this very important biologic phenomenon and adjusted their expectations of these individuals. There are ways to help these adolescents accommodate to this problem. If you want more information about adolescent sleep disorders, contact The Sleep Disorders Center of CDS or go to www.css.to/sleep/sleep_adolescents.pdf or www.sleepeducation.com.