The teenager who doesn't get enough sleep, there's lots of downstream consequences for that. Some of that is something they see right away. Some of it is something that may show up later especially if they're chronically sleep deprived. It would be things like impairment in concentration, in learning. Moods are changed. They can be irritable and grumpy even maybe more so than normally would have with adolescents. You see more auto accidents, work related injuries, those type of things when they're not getting enough sleep. They want to make sure they get plenty of sleep because it'll affect other aspects of their life.
Signs that a parent can watch for to help determine if their child is not getting enough sleep are similar to a lot of the signs that adolescents exhibit anyhow so sometimes can be hard to sort out. What is normal teenager behavior and what is sleep deprivation? Things such as being irritable and grumpy all the time, changing grades especially if grades are going down, the kids are not focused, if they're falling asleep at family events, or you notice that every time they get in the car if they're the passenger they're dosing off or worse yet that they're having trouble staying awake when they're driving. Those are signs that they can recognize it.
