Sleep is as important to our health as eating and breathing - yet it is the first thing we sacrifice when we're pressed for time. A recent campaign in the UK might see the introduction of sleep classes in school to teach teenagers the importance of sleep and how to do it - as many teens keep odd hours and get too little sleep.As teenagers yourselves, what is your experience when it comes to sleep?
32 comments:
A good percentage may say that they would favour classes like this, but has anyone actually asked why students arent getting enough sleep?
Its because of hectic schedules, piles of homework and trying to squeeze in abit of relaxation and leisure while balancing a social life. Just to cut back on abit of homework would be more than enough to give students an opportunity to have some more shut eye, forcing students to waste precious time in school is just stupidity.
I'm one of those who don't get much sleep, and don't take the weekend to make up for it. I would average it out to about 6 hours of sleep per night, which is well under what I should be getting but at least I havent missed out on doing anything in my day.
I would love to have a class like this but lets face it, it wouldn't work out well. I agree with Duwane, we have too hectic schedules, loads of homework, extra curriculars, chores at home, doing extra work etc. Especially in yr 11,when teachers tell us we have to study a lot, however we dont even get a chance to study properly due to the lack of time and loads of homework and due to that we sleep late. I have this rule where I have to finish all work given each day, so sit up till 1.00am trying to complete everything as well as squeezing in a bit of studies. I have to catch up on my sleep on Fridays which is not enough. I dont think any of us get enough of sleep now days. We all sleep on an average of 5 hours per day maybe.
I agree fully with Duwane. It is the hectic stress of our lives, that forces the decrease in total sleep time. Time is extremely precious, and, like Duwane, I get only about 6 hours of sleep per day.
It comes to show that school can be stressful, but, there are other things that play with the mind, keeping you awake. Like a horror movie for example, it will keep you awake, because your mind will play tricks in the dark, and raise your fear to a high level, and, the only way to overcome this, is by standing and walking around a bit, or getting so tired, that you collapse into your dreams.
It is very true that the first thing people cut, is sleep time. Teenagers like to stay up at night, so we despise going to sleep when we are at a party, or at a friends' house, for example, so, inevitably, we end up cutting sleep time to do the things we want to do.
It might even be said to be natural, that people are cutting sleep time, but I disagree.
Sleep is important, i agree, but our day to day activities deprive us of sleep.
We all get homework, and a lot of it. Being teenagers, we also need to have leisure and relaxation time, otherwise we would have health issues, we would be anti-social and basically robotic =P
The whole idea of having sleeping classes wouldn't be sensible because it will deprive students of their studies in a way, perhaps some other method could be used instead, like schedules that are monitored by teachers, and they could communicate with students parents on a regular basis.
If the question was directed to me,i would say without hesitation,"NO"
I live a very tiring life style,so much so that i dont know how i get through myself
i get up at 5 to get ready for school,come to school,then go to my gf's house in gardens,leave around 8-9,the bus takes a hour to reach home(qusais) then i study,complete homework,use the laptop and go to sleep only at 1 or 2 and then again get up at 5 for school,
and through the day i play basket ball and football,and im full of energy,i know i should sleep and need sleep,but because of this lifestyle,for the past 4 years ive grown used to it,and to stay up the whole night and the following day is normal for me,and i do it for almost everynight to study revise through my work
if i went for these classes and learnt about sleeping,or even if someone told me to,i really dont know if id change,
its just me
Precisely as Duwane stated. I'm up till 11 every night trying my best to complete all my pending school work, yet I can't be expected to work on my studies the entire day; as Daniel said, we have to find the time to balance our leisures too. 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'
I'm not pin-pointing and blaming our work load for my lack of sleep- but it is one of the main reasons. Another cause to be considered- it may sound cliché, but when we lie down in bed before sleep takes over us, our minds run over the day's events, ordeals, we recall all the decisions made, imagine what the next day will bring us, how yet another hectic twenty-four hours awaits us. It is not easy to immediately lose consciousness and enter dreamland; a lot of us find it quite difficult to fall asleep.
The article mentions how parents should be the ones to bring to our awareness the importance of sleep. It isn't just to blame only parents; heck, my parents constantly remind me to sleep by 10pm, (shamefully) I admit that I end up turn a deaf ear to them, as their repetitive admonishing now resembles annoying nagging to me. Why can't they understand that I HAVE to finish this essay?
Sure, this is the part where 'organizing' comes in. But what if there just aren't enough hours in a day? Many a times I have reproachfully wished that my days were just slightly longer.
A lot of us are already aware of the significance of sleep, and the risks associated with lack of it. Sure, a class regarding this issue would be helpful to the minority who don't recognize the crucial importance of this. But yes, as Duwane said, how is this going to help us? Maybe a seminar on how to organize our days would be slightly more acute.
Last year, my sleeping schedule wasn't much of a sleeping schedule. Waking up at 6:30 am, going to bed at 1am - 4 am. I used to go to school, slump through the corridors and pray for Arabic to come quicker so I could sleep in the classroom (point to note would be that I didn't really get any sleep). If I was very lucky and didn't have any Quranic classes that day, I'd nap for a few hours in the afternoon.
My parents weren't aware of my late nights and I didn't want them to worry about me. Nor did I want to sleep early.
And it wasn't because of school either, to be honest :/ It was because I wanted to talk to friends that lived up to 12 hours behind our timezone (curse you, GMT +4, curse youuuu).
End of Year 9 came around and I decided that I would get my butt into gear, come September. And thankfully, I have! I go to sleep from 9:30pm to 10:30pm and wake up, quite refreshed, at 6:30am. And I still manage to keep in touch with my friends 8D
...However, if this workload keeps up, I might find myself reverting to my old "schedule".
It's good to educate people about sleep, but seriously classes about sleeping? What are people going to do in them? Maximum 2 hours would be needed to convey the information that they need to know about how to improve their sleeping habits and after that those classes would be a waste of time. And many people do know that 8 hours of sleep are normal per day and they also know the consequences of being sleep deprived, it's a bit like smoking in that way, it's harmful, yet once you've started going to bed late it's really hard to get back into an 8 hour sleep schedule. Maybe they should teach us time management since that seems to be one of the main causes for not getting enough sleep. I guess I should go get some sleep now, seeing as my 8 hour sleep has already dropped to less than 6 hours :)
Time Management! That is the key to working things out and getting a decent sleep every day.
Of course, we've got a lot of work schedules from our school, SIGH, but we've got to roll with the punches, or else we're in for a nasty surprise.
I used to stay up late most nights, and be grumpy, moody and irratable in the mornings. I hated it so i decided to take control of my life and manage my time so that i can try and fit in everything. It almost works. Of course there are sacrifices to be made but come on; c'est la vie!
Im not saying its easy or its the best option but it works for me. You just have to find what works for you. :)
Wow, sleep clasesses would be so awesome. It would at least be 1 or 2 free periods for a day/week!!
Anyways, teenagers have extremely bad sleeping habits. There is some reason that keeps us awake at night. It might be good reasons (party, night out) or it might be bad reasons (study, stress, problems).
During hectic exam times, you got have a good night's sleep. Or else as Payam mentioned, you are going to feel grumpy and as Mr. Green (forgive me if I got his name wrong, I am still not very familiar with names!!) said, your brain doesn't work at full capacity.
Sleep is important, but there is one reason or another that prevents a teen from a good night's sleep.
7081I agree with the whole "sleeping is important" aspect, but to dedicate one whole lesson to educating students about sleep is, in my opinion, a waste of time. If they DO want to educate people about sleep, they could always put it under PE :P (since PE stands for PHYSICAL education, after all, and sleep is needed for physical and mental health)haha :)
On average, I sleep for about 6 hours or less, depending on how much homework i've got + any insomnia attacks. I've pulled an all-nighter a few times, due to the latter. And I must say that it IS hard to function when your brain hasn't recharged properly. I catch up on sleep during the weekends, but this doesnt happen a lot since I go out on Fridays and try to study more on Saturdays. It's been a common sight for any of my friends to see me yawning a hundred times a day :P
With the assessments coming up, I'm pretty sure that I'll be staying up quite late again, and even though we've been adviced to get enough sleep, I dont feel at ease until I manage to emboss every single detail in my head.
Studies arent the only reason though,.. We've also got parties and other social gatherings. I guess we just need balance and proper time management. Plus, a longer day + more hours can actually help? Humans are supposed to spend 8-9 hours sleeping, and compared to everything else we do, this pretty much takes up a WHOLE lot of our day. Imagine what we can accomplish in those 8 hours instead of dozing around....
check this out btw :
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/15/103358/720
This was it's introduction at Cracked.com (a comedy/informative site):
"What if we told you there was a way to sleep for little more than two hours a day, and still feel more refreshed than taking a 12-hour siesta on a bed made entirely out of baby kitten fur? No more sneaking naps at the fry station for you!
It's called the Uberman Sleep Schedule, and besides having a totally badass name, it's a way to get the maximum amount of essential sleep for your body without wasting hours of precious time you could be using to work or drink or farm for World of Warcraft gold. The schedule consists of taking six, 20-30 minute power naps, every four hours during the day..
I don't believe anyone's EVER stayed up all night before an English exam! :P
Sleeping classes would be awesome, haha, free lessons. :P
Well.. my sleep patterns are pretty wavering, theres times when i get enough sleep, times when I don't.
Sometimes its due to homework, but I can't always blame it on that. I mean, theres times when I've stayed up till about 1 am doing something else - maybe talking to a friend, or spending time on msn/facebook.
It's all about balancing out time. I'm not saying I always get my 8 hours of sleep, but theres many days when I manage to rest during the afternoon, then go out for some fresh air, get back home and get to work. And I manage to sleep by 10 - 11 pm, and that fits perfectly well into my schedule. If I can do it, so can anyone else... ofcourse, there's days when I work late, but my point is it isnt impossible to balance things out. Sleeping classes are a good idea, but I think us kids these days need to know more about time management, and we'll be just fine.
Haha! Don't we all wish we had a class like that!
Personally, I do think I get an over average amount of sleep in a daily basis. There are the occasional days where I forget to study something or I need to talk to my friends online or I need to READ A FEW CHAPTERS OF THE ENGLISH BOOK... but I cannot stress on how much I agree with everyone when they say the reason we ALL stay up late most of the time is because we try and finish all the work we have and still get enough time or relaxation.
Honestly though, I think 40% of us would actually go to sleep... we'd be catching up on gossip if anything near the term 'free period' was used!
Sleep is very important but i am sure almost everyone is aware of that. So i don't think its necessary to have a separate class for that! I think it would just be a waste because even if there's a class the instructors can't force the students to sleep for 8 hours.
I do agree with the people saying that our h.w it a bit too much keeping in mind the amount of study we have to do for IGCSE.
After reading some of the comments though, I am considering myself lucky that i get about 8 hours of sleep a day.
I get eight solid hours of sleep a day every day and I feel great in the morning. I wake up at 5:30am and feel full of energy and vitality. I have a nice breakfast, listen to music and reach school at 6:45am. I love to sleep :) mainly because I know a good night's rest allows me to enjoy the next day. I'm off to bed now Zzzzz...
sleep is really important to me. on a school night i can never stay up late. it's because my parents have enforced a certain schedule on me. on a school day i'm in bed by 9 30, 10 max!!! i just physically cannot stay awake longer than that! no matter what! and even if i do manage to keep myself up till after 10, my parents will constantly tell me to go sleep. on a weekend though it's entirely different.
most people ask me why i sleep so early, and the answer is because i NEED that 9 hour sleep! on a weekend i can sleep at 4 am because i know i can wake up at 4 pm the following day!
i do agree on the the part where the first thing people sacrifice is sleep. but then again, even if people are more educated about the importance of sleep, not many will actually listen. they will still find themselves in need of more time and just keep doing what theyve always done - sacrifice their sleep
I personally am someone who barely gets 5 hours of sleep a night. Just this week, I had to stay up for a continuous 40 hours because of the studies alone.
I think it's a great idea, introducing sleep classes. But in order for these classes to be effective, and for students to find it possible to implement what they'd be taught in sleep classes, something needs to be cut down when it comes to the amount of work they have to do.
Sleep classes would be pointless if all other school related work wasn't reduced.
WHY GO TO SOME SLEEPINF CLASSES.
just go to sleep during our everyday classes :P
that would be so cool
At the beginning of the year i had a very messed up sleeping schedual, because i was usually talking to my friends who were also 12 hours behind me. Then after a few weeks of sleeping in the morning and waking up 2 hours later for school, i got completely ill, and tired of staying up all night for people who weren't staying up every once in a while for me. Therefore i told them "screw you!" and went to bed happily. The end!
I never get enough sleep.. each day my desk is full of notebooks and worksheets…completing the ‘ heap’ ‘ takes tons of time…. daily I either stay up to 11 or 12 pm and I have to wake up at 5:30 because I take the school bus..
The only solution to this is..Getting less homework not sleep classes.
As far as i can remember i have had a routine of sleeping late at night and then i take an afternoon nap after coming from school. I do all the school work in and evening or night. Because of the nap i can do all the work with a fresh mind. I think the reason for lack of sleep is mainly 'work load' but i personally think i get enough sleep because when i don't i mind doesn't work at all and it's impossible for me to do any work. I don't think having sleep classes is a good idea as i think it wont work out.
I gues i is.
cud use more thou...
(collapes on keyboard)
Sleep classes should help. They might educate us on what time to sleep, whether or not to take a nap after you've done some work. Its true that there is too much of work for the students to go to sleep, but when does it become too much? When students keep piling their work for tomorrow and in the end there is just too much.
Thanks Mr.Roberts for the informative article on sleep...it was interesting and insightful...and it did not put me to sleep...
frankly all this hullaboo on sleep is a bit too much...
kids have a lot of stress nowadays due to studying???!!!!
I enjoy my 2 - 4 hours of studying ...its the politics and the gossip sessions that keep me from my sleep...
If we all did go to sleep by 10 at night ...leaving our video games and laptops and late night movies...we would not be discussing this today...
Instead of sleep classes..lets have classes that teach us to organize our time properly and in turn afford us with ample time for our 8 hours of refreshing sleep..
I have been sleeping all my life as i should and as long as i should do...so i dont need a class to teach me to sleep properly ...only maybe i need a class to teach me to "wake up"!!!!!
Wow, I'd love a class like this! Who wouldn’t? However, many students may delay sleep even more at night and use the excuse that they can catch up on it at the class in school! Health is very important and if we aren’t healthy or giving our brains enough rest there is no point whatsoever in going into school or work! Our health is number 1 and everything else comes after. Sleep is a very significant factor when it comes to work as lack of sleep results in low concentration. We all say that our hectic schedules lead us to become sleep deprived which to a certain extent is true. As soon as I get home from school I eat and instantly crash as I'm so knackered. I get kip for a good 2/3 hours and then sleep late at night and get around 5 maybe 6 hours of sleep? This is due to all the work, plus my leisure time and the fact that I cannot sleep as I rest in the afternoon (which is actually a really bad habit to fall into!) Technically I do get enough rest as I sleep in the afternoon.
But we should all ask ourselves, what is the point of working ourselves silly when we can become ill due to not getting enough sleep and all that perseverance ends up being a waste?
Agreeing with Duwane.
How much of our time goes to socializing and entertainment though?
There are always alternative solutions. Setting up schedules and plans, etc.
Us teenagers are too busy trying to fine a cure for cancer. That's how busy we are. :P
I get around an average of 6 hrs. of sleep. I'd have to say after waking up at 6:30AM for school... I wouldn't want to open my book unless necessary. Exams, homework. In my opinion, teenagers would categorize sleeping as a hobby if possible :))
No, I think it would be a waste of time. In schools, I mean. As a matter of fact, I sleep around 12 most nights and if I dont get my share of the afternoon nap, I can get real groggy, that shows even the next day. So my naps are more important during school days. But I think that a person's need for sleep depends on himself. If he thinks he requires that time sleeping, then he should take time out.... for sleeping. But I believe that if a sleeping campaign is to be introduced anyway(I am not saying it is unnecessary), then the Labour Party's education spokesman, Cllr Ricky Henderson is right. It should be addressed on a wider healthy living agenda. Not just in schools.
I actually think human beings can go on without much sleep!
Sleep is a variable thaat is altered according to the person.
eg. a lazy 26 year old, and an active 40 year old; Who sleeps more? BUT Who needs more sleep?
Just like in the Monk who sold his ferarri (one of my favourite books of all time), I think man can go ON AND ON without MUCH sleep. It is a fully dependant on him.
Yes, I can and have done it, so dont accuse me of hypocrisy. =P
sleeping is something i do best :) i need at least 10hours of sleep per day or i cant really function...most of the time though for me I'm too busy with work or home stuff etc so I'm usually deprived of my ten hours sleeping classes would be really cool to learn how to organize my everyday activities so i can get enough rest.
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