Exhausted teenagers are slumping at their school desks after a long night texting, gaming or obsessively monitoring Facebook.
Sleep Well clinician Alex Bartle says he is seeing an increasing number of teenagers and young adults who seem "addicted" to their electronic devices. Using electronic media before bed could lead to disrupted sleep, he says, as the back-lighting on tablets and phones could suppress the production of melatonin, which was needed to sleep. Their interactive nature could also stimulate the brain more than "passive" television.