To Sleep, Perchance to Succeed

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.