How many pupils do you notice in the classroom who appear tired & sleepy? The answer is probably many. All too often pupils’ sleep is very disturbed and often too short. This is often caused by children watching television, using video games, mobile phones, internet sites and chatrooms too late in the evening. Diet can have an impact – with much fast food and too many sugary foods being consumed which can cause sleep problems. Sleep is the key to helping young minds develop.

The ‘media dens’ in which children sleep is to blame with an increase in gadgets – games consoles, phone, music system, television and computer with internet access. At weekends the number of teens getting less than 4 hours sleep triples. Screen viewing time has increased in the past few years by 30% with children becoming moody and depressed when dragged away from favourite shows or video games. NHS figures show that in the past 5 years there has been a 26% increase in the number of children referred to hospitals for insomnia, sleep-walking and sleep-related breathing problems. One in three pupils sleeps for just 4-7 hours a night instead of the recommended 8-9. 25% go to sleep watching television or listening to music. Babies need 21-22 hours sleep whilst 10 year olds need 9-10 hours and a teenager 9 hours to cope with growth spurts. This leaves children grumpy and tired and unable to perform at school the next day. Moving televisions and computers out of bedrooms into communal areas would be good.

Mobile phones can disrupt sleep patterns. Many teenagers are regularly woken in the night by the beeping of junk texts or ‘spam’ sent to their mobile phones. (10% of 16 year olds are woken several times a week). Teenagers are then unable to get back to sleep. Sleep specialists believe that being woken from a deep sleep interrupts the vital sub-conscious process in which the mind memorises everything learnt during the day.

Good sleep is essential for everyone and in particular pupils. It has a number of functions:

Helps store information

Sleep helps us to rewire the brain so that we can learn more. Our brains become saturated with information during the day and unless the synapses are trimmed back at night we lose the capacity to learn. Sleep enables some of the synapses to be cleared according to Dr Paul Shaw of Washington School of Medicine. We go through different phases of sleep during the night. Some phases involve deep sleep, others shallow sleep. Our memory is consolidated during a shallower phase known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Within 30 – 45 minutes of falling asleep a deep phase occurs. Then a shallower phase of REM sleep occurs. 20 – 30% of each night is REM sleep. Normally there are 4 periods of REM sleep of 90 – 100 minutes duration. REM sleep is denoted my a flickering of eyes and higher levels of brain activity. As night progresses REM becomes more frequent and periods of deep sleep shorter. Your brain uses this time to sort out the information that has come in during the day and file it away. You are subconsciously problem solving or discovering answers to puzzling or difficult questions. We dream an average of 2 hours per night. You tend to remember information that you have scanned or listened to before going to sleep.

Detoxifies

The body is cleared and cleansed of toxins during sleep.

Helps you grow

Growth hormones circulate during sleep which helps children grow. Sleep deprivation slows growth