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If you're a parent who feels like your teen has morphed into Rip Van Winkle or Sleeping Beauty - always sawing wood - listen up. All that sleep time could be good for them.

A new study from Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health says that kids who get more sleep are less likely to suffer from depression.

As tough as it may be to convince them to step away from their Facebook pages and iPods late at night, it's well worth the effort. Teens whose parents allow them to stay up past midnight are 42 percent more likely to feel depressed and 30 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts.

A reasonable bedtime isn't just for tots and tweens, it's good for the older kids, as well. Even though with the amount of homework they're getting these days, it may be like dreaming the impossible dream.

So, Mr. Van Winkle and Miss Beauty, lights out. You need your rest - and that's no fairy tale.

That's a page from my notebook.

It's a landmark case in Internet law. You may remember the Missouri woman accused of posing as a teenage boy on MySpace. Using the fake identity, she allegedly began taunting a 13-year-old neighborhood girl who eventually committed suicide.

Lori Drew was called a monster, a predator, a cyber bully ... but she's not charged in the girl's death. Missouri prosecutors said no laws were broken. Instead, Drew is now on trial in Los Angeles for allegedly violating her MySpace agreement. Some say it's a legal stretch, while others can't understand why she isn't being tried for a much more serious offense.

It's a reminder that our laws don't always keep up with ever-changing technology. Every day people post things on-line they would never say in person. But those digital words matter, a lesson Lori Drew found out the hard way, and a 13-year-old girl is dead.

The headline is startling enough: The first increase in the suicide rate in a decade. Even more shocking is what's behind it – a rise in suicide by middle-age white women, a group we think of as soccer moms, not suicide victims.

The report, compiled by Johns Hopkins researchers, covers the period from 1999 to 2005. With our current financial crisis, the problem could get worse. Suicide-prevention counselors say calls are way up, with twice as many women calling now as four months ago.

So far, those are just statistics. Researchers need to examine the stories behind the numbers. What let these women to take their lives? Were they under pressure at work? At home? The sad truth is, we simply don't know.

Most prevention programs focus on those considered to be high-risk, like teenagers, young adults and older white males. This study shows we need to rethink that.

We've gotten a lot of feedback on Armen Keteyian's exclusive investigation into suicide among American war veterans.

And now Pia Malbran has blogged about it, over at Primary Source:

There’s been a lot of reaction to our story. For example, Senator Daniel Akaka (D), Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, released the following statement:

"The report that the rate of suicide among veterans is double that of the general population is not only deeply troubling to me but simply unacceptable. In light of the grim news in the CBS story, I hope that the sense of urgency which has guided the committee’s extensive action on mental health issues this session will continue."

A viewer whose husband served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and is scheduled to redeploy next summer sent us this note:

"My husband a California National Guard member … broke down and told me that he was extremely depressed and had been thinking of ways to kill himself. I just want to thank you for making America aware that this is an epidemic that the VA is doing nothing about."

There's more at Pia's blog, plus additional links and information.

In 2004, the last year statistics are available, 1,700 teenagers committed suicide. This is a tragic waste -- and raises questions about warning labels the FDA has required for anti-depressants prescribed to young people.

Click the monitor for more.