Bad sleep patterns hit children’s health
Switching up school hours so students can get additional time to sleep in the morning has been debated by parents, youngsters and educators for a long while.
Teachers often complain about sleep deprivation among their pupils in classrooms as they see heads down on desks, less engagement and tired faces.
Now, teachers are saying it’s the parents’ responsibility to ensure they enforce a strict routine that should be followed, including tighter rules around gadget usage.
A physical education teacher and well-being lead at GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis, Thomas Nelson, said: “More students appear sleep-deprived due to a plethora of reasons. Social media and the effects of ‘blue lighting’ from technologies had impacted this greatly.
“As an academy, we recommend that our students don’t use technologies at least 90 minutes before they plan to sleep. Routine and diet are also paramount to effective sleep.
“We find that many students do not have a set bedtime or routine. Parents need to become strict when asking their children to sleep at a reasonable hour and remove temptations from their bedrooms, such as mobile phones, laptops and game consoles.”
A teacher at Sharjah Indian School, Latha Narasimhan, believes there is an “urgent need” to address sleep deprivation among pupils.
She said many factors can play a role in disturbing a child’s and a teen’s sleep, including the continuous use of phones and other electronics before bedtime.
“Overuse of gadgets and obsession with social media platforms lead to wastage of waking hours, thereby pushing academic work to the last minute and leading to the postponement of sleep time,” she said.
“Sleep is a vital biological need that revitalises and energises the brain, making it ready to support learning and concentration. However, even minimum hours of sleep requirement are never prioritised — thereby impacting the students’ academic performance and mental well-being. Poor grades, anxiety and depression may result from this. Lack of sleep affects their mental and psychological behaviour and tampers with their cognitive abilities.”
Swapnaja Deshpande, a school counsellor at Apsam Indian International School Sharjah, said
parents need to set a better example for kids, especially when it comes to their electronic usage habits.
“Children are being raised in nuclear families wherein both the working parents try to catch up with the day’s chores until late night, resulting in disturbed sleeping routines.
“Discipline, time management and learning to prioritise are the keys to follow every routine. Children are wet clay: It is important to inculcate good habits in them as early as possible. At the onset of puberty, physiological and social changes in children may disrupt their sleep,” she said.
“In today’s generation, students from a young age are ‘online virtually and offline physically’. Their cup of milk is their device and smartphones are extensions of them. On average, children and adolescents spend five hours a day on media for personal, entertainment or academic reasons. Lateevening use of electronics and high level of visual and cognitive stimulation from Internet surfing and texting negatively impact children’s sleep.”
Educators are also blaming the unhealthy eating habits of children, saying that it contributes greatly to lack of sleep. Nelson said high sugar content, particularly in drinks, should be avoided.
Sleep is a vital biological need that revitalises and energises the brain, making it ready to support learning and concentration. However, even minimum hours of sleep requirement are never prioritised.” Latha Narasimhan,
teacher, Sharjah Indian School
Discipline, time management and learning to prioritise are the keys to follow every routine. Children are wet clay:
It is important to inculcate good habits in them as early as possible.” Swapnaja Deshpande,
school counsellor, Apsam Indian International School Sharjah