Another unappreciated aspect of sleep is how much of it one needs depending on their age. As I've gotten older, I've noticed that I need far less sleep. I sti

Another unappreciated aspect of sleep is how much of it one needs depending on their age. As I've gotten older, I've noticed that I need far less sleep. I still try to get 8 hours if I can, but most of the time I get away with 6 or 7 just fine and I get up much earlier in the morning. I think adolescents need more like 9 hours of sleep, but for some reason we (in America anyway) make kids get up earlier than most adults and give them work to do at home so they have less time to get to bed early, giving them all the incentive to stay up later. Adults trivialize sleep, which is funny because in high school and college it seemed agreed upon by everyone that we actually needed that extra hour or two. Teachers and parents would tell us that we were merely "slacking off" if we slept for more than 8 hours and didn't get up at the buttcrack of dawn. Millennial parents undoubtedly have their own set of problems distinct from past generations, but I hope they've learned by now that their parent's views on sleep don't need to be repeated just as they're not repeating the 9-to-5 butts-in-seats mentality that is no longer a universal.