WATERLOO - De'Quan Campbell's mom makes him go to bed at 10 p.m. on school nights. But the West High freshman doesn't fall asleep right away. In fact, he often stays up for several more hours - sometimes until 2 a.m. - watching TV.

"My mom wakes me up at 6 a.m.," he said. "I'm not really that tired when I get up."

But as the day wears on, Campbell admits he tends to get a little drowsy. Par for the course, say health experts.

As the lazy days of summer grind to a halt and students head back to school, their sleep schedules transition from late nights and sleeping in to appropriate bedtimes and early morning starts.

It's a tough adjustment, said Dr. Arla McVicker of the Covenant Clinic in Evansdale.

"Summertime is synonymous with sleeping in. It make take a few weeks to break the cycle, but eventually they'll get up and won't feel sleepy," she said.

An appropriate bedtime is crucial to academic success, McVicker added, noting her own children are in bed by 9 p.m. on school nights.

"Sleep deprivation affects everyone," she said. "Some kids fall asleep in class. For teens who are driving, they are more prone to accidents."

While individual sleep needs vary, a good rule of thumb is 10-11 hours for grade-schoolers; nine to 10 hours for middle-schoolers; and nine hours for high school students.

A 2004 poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that first- through fifth-graders get about 9.5 hours of sleep. A 2006 NSF survey showed that adolescents get between 8.5 and 9.25 hours of sleep per night.

Nearly half of the adolescents polled admitted to getting less than eight hours of sleep on school nights.

TV was found to be a major sleep thief. According to the 2006 NSF poll, 43 percent of school-aged kids have TVs in their bedrooms.

That's what keeps siblings and West High students Stevan and Jelena Krickovic from getting their fair share of Zs.

The pair often stay up until 11 p.m. watching "Family Guy," in spite of their 6 a.m. rise and shine.

"Sometimes I take naps after school," said Jelena, a junior.

"I get a little tired after third period and sometimes after lunch," said Stevan, a freshman.

Sue Infelt has seen a lot of tired students in her 17 years as a teacher. The Bunger Middle School sixth-grade reading and language arts instructor said students who aren't getting enough sleep often hit the wall after lunch.

"They'll put their heads down on the desk, and you'll see lots of blinking and yawning," she said. "Either that or they start to talk too much to try and wake themselves up."

During the first week of school, Infelt emphasizes to students the need for adequate sleep. Too little slumber results in poor performance, she said.

McVicker of Covenant Clinic concurs.

"Kids with adequate sleep do better in school. No child should be getting just seven to eight hours of sleep and expect to do well."

Contact Meta Hemenway-Forbes

at (319) 291-1483 or meta.hemenway-forbes@wcfcourier.com.