The cost of sleep deprivation in school
Jared Saletin
Jared studies the vital connection between sleep and children’s ability to learn, grow, and thrive. His research shows that sleep is essential not only for memory and attention but also for emotional balance and physical health, with even small sleep deficits impairing brain function. Adolescence brings biological changes that shift the body’s natural sleep timing later in the evening, while school schedules often remain fixed early in the morning. This mismatch creates chronic sleep deprivation that can reduce academic performance, increase emotional instability, and heighten risk-taking behavior. Jared promotes practical, science-based strategies such as improving sleep consistency and adjusting daily routines to better support the natural sleep needs of young people.
Listen to Jared
”We have this incredibly critical window of time where we ask kids to perform in ways that have consequences for the rest of their lives. We don’t structure their lives in a way that sets them up to be healthy and supportive of those goals.”
Jared Saletin
Jared Saletin
Jared Saletin (PhD) is the Associate Director of the E.P. Bradley Hospital Sleep Research Laboratory and a cognitive neuroscientist studying sleep-dependent brain function in typical and atypical neurodevelopment. He is also the Director of Bradley’s COBRE Center’s Sleep and Circadian Rhythms Research Methods.
Related episodes
Jared Saletin