To Sleep Perchance to Succeed
In my classroom I
had a rule: If someone one falls asleep,
let him sleep! Before you assume that my teaching had a soporific effect on my
students, let me assure you that second grade is a very exciting place. But
sometimes, a little one is so weary that she needs forty winks to
recharge. So my policy is “Let sleeping
children sleep.”
Children need
their sleep. In today’s high-powered society, even second-graders are
over-scheduled and stressed. Soccer
games, piano lessons, karate, horseback riding, and scouts clutter up a
“prepubescent professional’s” agenda, not to mention school and homework. Many are so busy that they need an organizer
app. Sleep time gets lost to TV, video games and the Internet. Rising at dawn to dress, breakfast and race
to daycare, many kids start out the day jet-lagged.
As these
youngsters grow, their schedules only clutter up more. Band practice, sports
practice, chorus, and club meetings demand time from teens. Many also take jobs
to cover the high cost of fashionable clothing and car insurance. High school
starts early and after-school activities eat up a lot of time. Especially if
you are trying to look “well-rounded” for those college recruiters or working
towards a sports scholarship, so naturally, something’s got to give. And too
many times it is sleep.
Experts (such as
my mother) tell us that kids need sleep. Young children need ten to twelve
hours of sleep a day to function properly. Teens need eight to ten hours. According
to the National Sleep Foundation, many students lose at least two of these
necessary sleep hours to school activities, jobs and TV.
Lack of sleep
results in inattentiveness and can lead to serious health problems. According to Dr, Carl Hunt of The National
Institute of Health, “A tired child is an accident waiting to happen. Injuries
on bicycles and playground equipment are more likely to occur when a child is
sleep-deprived and if poor sleeping habits continue as kids grow older….. It
turns into the teenager who is drowsy and driving a car.”
Research links
poor sleeping habits to obesity and heart and respiratory ailments.
Attention Deficit
Disorder (ADD), depression, and poor grades also have ties to inadequate sleep.
International educational consultant, David A. Sousa, in his research on
Brain-Based learning states that, “Adequate sleep is vital to the memory
storage process, especially for young learners.”
Research aside;
every parent knows that a tired child is not a pleasant child. My mother always
told me that I needed my sleep. And she was right. During weeks at camp when I
went to bed at midnight and woke at dawn, I was always physically ill by
Thursday -- and I was the camp director. The kids did little better than I did
with trips to the nurse multiplying as the week continued. And boy was I
cranky! Any little problem became a BIG problem when I looked at it with sleepy
eyes.
When adults get
tired, they slow down. But when kids get tired they speed up. A child who looks
like she is running on a full tank at midnight really ran out of gas at eight
and is running on fumes. Kids lose focus and judgment when they get tired. They
don’t think they need sleep. And when
the kids don’t sleep, parents lose rest too.
So my prescription
is put them to bed. Establish a bedtime routine, stick to it and get those kids
some rest. They may fight it, but they need it. I’d like my students to stay
awake and have tons of fun. I want them to do it with a joyful, fully focused
spirit and a great big smile on their faces. And I’d like to find just as many
happy parents waiting at home, well rested and ready for the next child-rearing
challenge to come their way. Believe me; you’ll need to meet it with your eyes
wide open.
