Wider World 2. Reading

Read the letters from an advice website for teenagers and choose the correct answer

Dear Polly

Last night I got into bed at 10 o’clock as usual. Then (as usual!) my best friend started messaging me to play this action game we both like online. I stopped four hours later, but I didn’t feel sleepy, so checked out my Facebook page for a bit. My parents went to bed at the same time as me so, of course, they were asleep. I didn’t go to sleep until 3 am! I feel tired all of the time except at night – it’s my best friend’s fault!

Henri, 15

Dear Henri

Adults usually need about eight hours sleep a night, which is one hour less than teenagers and four hours less than children. What this means is that you should be going to bed about one hour before your parents, not five hours after! Scientists think that teenagers are getting less sleep than before. Online gaming and social media are a big part of the problem.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that when you play the games, you get very excited. You are producing hormones in your body that you usually use for physical activities like sport. This means you don’t feel sleepy. Second, the light in the screen makes your brain think it’s daytime so you don’t produce the hormones you need to make you feel tired naturally.

The easy way to sleep better, of course, is to stop playing these games altogether. But I know you enjoy them, so why give them up completely? It’s not just your friend’s fault, it’s yours too! Speak to him and explain that you want to get more sleep. Then agree a time when you can both play. But don’t do it just before bedtime, make it at least two hours before you usually go to bed, and play for an hour at the most. Oh, and leave your phone downstairs!

Polly

When did Henri’s parents go to bed?

Read the letters from an advice website for teenagers and choose the correct answer

Dear Polly

Last night I got into bed at 10 o’clock as usual. Then (as usual!) my best friend started messaging me to play this action game we both like online. I stopped four hours later, but I didn’t feel sleepy, so checked out my Facebook page for a bit. My parents went to bed at the same time as me so, of course, they were asleep. I didn’t go to sleep until 3 am! I feel tired all of the time except at night – it’s my best friend’s fault!

Henri, 15

Dear Henri

Adults usually need about eight hours sleep a night, which is one hour less than teenagers and four hours less than children. What this means is that you should be going to bed about one hour before your parents, not five hours after! Scientists think that teenagers are getting less sleep than before. Online gaming and social media are a big part of the problem.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that when you play the games, you get very excited. You are producing hormones in your body that you usually use for physical activities like sport. This means you don’t feel sleepy. Second, the light in the screen makes your brain think it’s daytime so you don’t produce the hormones you need to make you feel tired naturally.

The easy way to sleep better, of course, is to stop playing these games altogether. But I know you enjoy them, so why give them up completely? It’s not just your friend’s fault, it’s yours too! Speak to him and explain that you want to get more sleep. Then agree a time when you can both play. But don’t do it just before bedtime, make it at least two hours before you usually go to bed, and play for an hour at the most. Oh, and leave your phone downstairs!

Polly

Which of these things happened first?

Read the letters from an advice website for teenagers and choose the correct answer

Dear Polly

Last night I got into bed at 10 o’clock as usual. Then (as usual!) my best friend started messaging me to play this action game we both like online. I stopped four hours later, but I didn’t feel sleepy, so checked out my Facebook page for a bit. My parents went to bed at the same time as me so, of course, they were asleep. I didn’t go to sleep until 3 am! I feel tired all of the time except at night – it’s my best friend’s fault!

Henri, 15

Dear Henri

Adults usually need about eight hours sleep a night, which is one hour less than teenagers and four hours less than children. What this means is that you should be going to bed about one hour before your parents, not five hours after! Scientists think that teenagers are getting less sleep than before. Online gaming and social media are a big part of the problem.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that when you play the games, you get very excited. You are producing hormones in your body that you usually use for physical activities like sport. This means you don’t feel sleepy. Second, the light in the screen makes your brain think it’s daytime so you don’t produce the hormones you need to make you feel tired naturally.

The easy way to sleep better, of course, is to stop playing these games altogether. But I know you enjoy them, so why give them up completely? It’s not just your friend’s fault, it’s yours too! Speak to him and explain that you want to get more sleep. Then agree a time when you can both play. But don’t do it just before bedtime, make it at least two hours before you usually go to bed, and play for an hour at the most. Oh, and leave your phone downstairs!

Polly

Henri first went to sleep at