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Sleep Deprivation Lowers School Achievement In Children

New submitter josedu writes:"Sleep deprivation is a great, hidden problem that afflicts a great percentage of children in affluent countries. About 73% of 9- and 10-year-old children in the U.S. are sleep deprived, as are 80% of 13- and 14-year-olds. The new study thinks this is linked to the increased access to devices such as mobile phones and laptops late at night. One of the researchers put it very simply: 'Our data show that across countries internationally, on average, children who have more sleep achieve higher in maths, science and reading.' This disruption is also causing schools to dumb-down their instruction to accomodate the reduced capacity of these kids. Thus, even the kids who are getting enough sleep will suffer. The long-term impact of sleep deprivation on nationwide education levels is enormous."

5 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. Wow, I'm impressed. by seebs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They managed to reproduce results fifteen or twenty years, and offer a stupid interpretation. Not bad!

    The sleep-deprivation thing is well known, and not new. However, there's nothing tying it to "mobile devices". Rather, there's strong evidence that teenagers tend to have a circadian rhythm which favors being up later and not getting up that early. Schools have historically shoved their schedules extra-early so that extracurricular events like sports can occur before the sun goes down, but after school. Last time I heard about this, a school district had tried simply moving the high school day an hour later, and gotten a very noticable improvement in basically every measure of achievement available to them.

    Now that I'm an adult, I sleep until I feel like getting up, and if I'm up a bit late, fine. I pretty much wake up between 11 and noon, and I work "late" most nights... But I get a heck of a lot more done, and a lot better, than I did when I was trying to work 9-5.

    --
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  2. Re:Let me be the first to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure circadian rhythms don't work like that.

    here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Biological_clock_human.svg

  3. Science by Murdoch5 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually I read once that teenagers are better "profiled" to perform during the mid day and hence they should really be sleeping much later at night and into the early morning, class for teenagers should be starting at noon not 9am. Well I'm not going to argue a good night sleep is important, it is very important, we need to be setting class times that revolve more around the natural clock of the body and not what works best for the adults. If science can show that 12 - 7pm works better for teenagers then I think we should move class times to work in that area. It would also be worth figuring out when the best natural class time is children, I have a problem when we base sleep patterns for the teachers rather then the students.

    This link from the BBC talks about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7932950.stm

    So I think the solution, at least for teenagers is to move the class time back so they can best perform when biologically they're ready to.

  4. Re:duh research by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sorry, what Government Agency needs to pay attention to this and what should they do about it?

    Answer: None.

    The only reason 9 and 10 year old children are sleep deprived is because of dumb shit parents who don't give a fuck about their kids.

    And the only people who can do anything about it is the dumb shit parents.

    The only reason 9 and 10 year old children are sleep deprived is because of dumb shit parents who don't give a fuck about their kids.

    And the only people who can do anything about it is the dumb shit parents.

    Thank GOD we have someone here who knows the answer and no doubt or exceptions!

    I'm intrigued that you know everything - do you have a newsletter I can subscribe to?

    So first, Every sleep child is apparently allowed to stay up as late as he or she wants because those parents don't "give a fuck"?

    Not a single school aged child has ever had to staye up late because a parent was out working and they had to baby sit. I babysat my little sister while my parents were working late. Making ends meet. Not because they didn't "give a fuck". Lot's of children get to do this. Not everything is as it was in the Brady Bunch.

    Even my son while in high school was a part of the generation that got homework dumped on them. sometimes he'd be up until 11 or 12 at night doing it. In your world we made him do that homework because4 we didn't "give a fuck".

    Kind sir, you are a person who only knows one answer and spouts it as if it is from God's lips to your ears, You are not anywhere near as smart as you think you are, you have a very narrow, and I suspect politically influnced viewpoint - although I doubt that you "give a fuck".

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  5. Re:duh research by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Informative

    while it might be "duh", government agencies, et al, won't respond to anecdotal stories about the effects of sleep deprivation. They need data to back it.

    There is plenty of data. This not even close to the first study that has reached the same conclusion. More sleep means more learning. Kids' sleep patterns are determined by daylight, so "going to bed early" doesn't work. What does work is shifting the school hours later in the day. The kids go to bed at the same time, but sleep extra in the morning. Schools that have done this not only have better test scores, but also have fewer pregnancies, less drug use, and fewer accidents. Kids are most likely to smoke pot and screw right after school, while their parents are still at work and the house is empty. When the school day is shifted later in the day, they don't have as much time for that. Citation (sorry about the pdf): Sleep, Safety, Drugs, Teen Pregnancy and other reasons to change school times