The Importance of Sleep

Here’s an article written by my colleague Michael Bessette for his Maple Street parents. It’s important information, given this time of year.

Thanks. Bill Carozza, Principal (Some of this research came from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development).

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Dear Parents and Students,

How did you sleep last night?  Did you get enough rest?  With the coming holiday season, it is really commonplace for me to hear parents and staff talking about how little sleep they had the night before, or how the stresses of work, the economy, or perhaps the coming holiday season caused them to lose sleep.  Unfortunately, parents and staff are not the only ones who are becoming more sleep deprived, as research and anecdotal experiences at school will attest.  Some children, particularly in elementary schools and middle schools, are losing out on a very important part of a healthy lifestyle – an appropriate amount of sleep.

What are the signs of sleep deprivation in children?  Most pediatricians agree that sleep-deprived children tend to be more restless, grouchy, and impulsive than those children who receive an adequate amount of sleep.  They also note that there is a tendency for sleep-deprived children to demonstrate more depression and depressed self-esteem.  Research has shown that sleep deprivation decreases student motivation, concentration, attention, and coherent reasoning skills, memory, self-control, processing speed and the frequency of mistakes.

So how much sleep do our children need?  It really depends on several factors – such as age, puberty, and the stresses our children are facing.  Researchers have estimated that roughly 85 percent of adolescents are reported to be mildly sleep deprived.  Those same researchers find that between 10 and 40% may be considered significantly deprived.  One recent publication suggested that a “good rule of thumb” is “10 for 10”  – 10 hours of sleep for ten year old students.  When considering this rule, remember that older students need slightly less, and younger kids need slightly more.  One exception to this is when teens are experiencing puberty and still require 9-10 hours of sleep per day.

Paying attention to both the amount of sleep our children are getting each night and how that sleep is being obtained are very important steps in helping kids develop healthy and academically successful lifestyles.  Ever hear of the “Jet Lag” effect?  Many children experience similar conditions of the “Jet Lag” effect when, after extending themselves way beyond their normal weeknight bedtimes and oversleeping as compensation, they experience a form of sleep deprivation.  Studies on children have shown that students who tend to have the smallest discrepancies between their weekend and weeknight sleep patterns (given an appropriate amount of sleep) have the best academic performance.  In contrast, students with a discrepancy of more than two hours are more likely to obtain lower grades.

So what can we as a school do to help you to make sure the children are getting enough sleep.  One think we can do is pay attention to homework and how it is assigned.  As a staff, teachers are encouraged to provide homework that does not necessarily require children to remain awake into the late hours of the evening to complete it.  Teachers are encouraged to provide homework tasks that can be spread out over time, or provided in packets that may be spread out over time for completion rather than getting it all in one shot for completion the next day.

If you are concerned with your child’s sleep habits or ability to achieve restful sleep, don’t hesitate to contact your child’s pediatrician or the school nurse to discuss it further.  Sleep certainly is a vital part of any child’s (and this school principal’s) ability to function well.