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School started this week in Howard County. High school and middle school classes begin at about 7:30 a.m., and seats are filled with bright-eyed, alert students, eager to fill their brains with new knowledge and new ways of thinking about the world.

Whoa, wait a minute. "Bright-eyed"? "Alert"? Not according to a couple decades of studies of the physiology and psychology of adolescents. Teens don't begin to reach that state of readiness until about 8 or 9 in the morning. Until then, they are zombies — if they even arrive on time.

When puberty hits, the teen's internal clock gets reset, for a natural bedtime around 10 or 11 p.m. — but that teen still needs at least nine hours of sleep to be healthy and fully functional during the day. If bedtime is 10 p.m., then wake-up is 7 a.m. — not really enough time to wash, throw on some clothes, grab breakfast and catch the bus or walk to school to be in class by 7:30 a.m. If bedtime is 11 p.m. or later, of course the problem is worse.

Teen lives are very full, with after-school jobs, caring for younger siblings, sports activities and clubs, not to mention a few hours of homework. They need some time to socialize and relax as well. What often gets sacrificed is sleep. In fact, in a recent study, some 90 percent of teens reported not getting a full nine hours of sleep a night.

Sleep deprivation can have serious consequences. Not only does it impair concentration, and thus academic performance, but it also affects mood, making the sleep-deprived teen more irritable and more prone to violence, and more likely to have car accidents.

The Mayo Clinic provides several measures that parents can take to help their teens get to bed on time and handle their sleep needs:

- Adjust the lighting. Dim the lights near bedtime, turn them off during sleep, and turn on bright lights in the morning. The change in lighting sets up a rhythm that tells the body when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up.

- Stick to a schedule. It's not easy, but encourage a regular bedtime and wake-up time every day, even on weekends, to help establish the rhythm.

- Limit time on jobs and other activities. Prioritize extracurricular activities and curb late-night social time as needed. Limit working hours to no more than 16 to 20 hours a week.

- Nix long naps. A 30-minute nap after school may be refreshing, but too much daytime shut-eye may only make it harder to fall asleep at night.

- Curb the caffeine. The caffeine jolt is short-lived and too much caffeine can interfere with a good night's sleep.

- Keep it calm. Encourage your teen to wind down at night with a warm shower, a book or other relaxing activities and avoid vigorous exercise, loud music, video games, text messaging, surfing the Internet and other stimulating activities shortly before bedtime. Take the TV out of your teen's room or keep it off at night. The same goes for your teen's cell phone and computer.

Ideally, middle school and high school would start later in the morning. But it's a complicated proposition, and until then, parents need to help their teens get those recommended nine hours of nightly sleep.

The Savage Community Association will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Carroll Baldwin Hall (corner of Foundry and Baltimore Streets). All community members are welcome.