Sleep Deprivation Lowers School Achievement In Children 272
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."
Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Insightful)
duh research (Score:2, Insightful)
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 are many other "duh" topics, but no one ever bothers to actually study it. And for the ones who do, regular folks aren't surprised at the answer and wonder why the govt. is funding such "obvious" research.
Well, analyzing "duh" data is tedious. And hard to do without preconceived bias.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
There are many other "duh" topics, but no one ever bothers to actually study it. And for the ones who do, regular folks aren't surprised at the answer and wonder why the govt. is funding such "obvious" research.
What *I* wonder is why the gov't doesn't err on the side of "duh, this probably is true, let's account for that in our planning".
If you want to actually fix this situation, wrest control away from the morning-people who set the school schedules. Not everyone actually wants to get up shortly after dawn, for many people this is simply unnatural and goes against their own sleep rhythm, but everyone is forced to do this by various schools and employers.
When you are not naturally a morning person, you hav
Re:duh research (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 [nksd.net]
Re:duh research (Score:4, Informative)
Citation (sorry about the pdf)
Here is the same citation, but html: Early Morning Classes, Sleepy Students, and Risky Behavior [center4research.org].
More citations are listed at the bottom of the article.
Quick summary: Starting and ending the school day early is really dumb.
Re:duh research (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".
Re: (Score:3)
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".
One of many things I've never understood about highschool: Make teenagers wake up at 6am to get to school on time. Keep them in school until 3pm. Encourage them to go to football practice after school. Give them 5 hours of homework. Wonder why they fall asleep in class.
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Let me be the first to say... (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 [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Also this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_disorder [wikipedia.org]
I tried my best to go to bed earlier. I just ended up tossing and turning in bed until midnight for weeks on end. Only thing that helped me is melatonin.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I tried my best to go to bed earlier.
Same here. My pet peeve is how morning people are often so sanctimonious about their preferred schedules, as though working at 7AM is somehow more virtuous than working at 7PM. Personally I think we should put all the morning people on the other side of the planet so they stop bothering us (bonus points if you force them to attend conference calls in the middle of their night).
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Except your body won't stay on NYC time. It'll align itself with the sunlight hours you're now experiencing in LA. If you're a night owl in NYC, you'll be a night owl in LA, after that period of adjustment known as "jet lag". That's what jet lag is, you know, when your body's rhythms are trying to cope with having daytime suddenly shifted several hours on it.
Re: (Score:3)
It's not hard because it's what you're used to.
No, it is not hard because you are you. People that are not you, or even you later in your life, may have great difficulty doing it. When I was in my twenties, I would be asleep in five minutes, and would nearly always sleep soundly through the night. I am decades older now, and usually wake several times during the night, and often take an hour or more to get back to sleep. Don't assume everyone is like you. Different people have vastly different sleep patterns, and even the same person can have vastl
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Apparently my son has a /. account and just modded me 'Troll'.
Of course, that must be what happened. The fact that you smugly oversimplified a complex, nuanced issue in order to dismiss it and those adversely affected by it has absolutely nothing to do with it.
You remind me of certain extreme right-wingers who think the poor should just "get off their lazy asses", as if poverty was that simple.
Not everyone is "wired" to be a morning person. They are not naturally that way, but they find themselves in a world run by those who are. They go against their own nat
Re: (Score:2)
Didn't work back then, still doesn't work for me, not at all.
During a few weeks of holidays I did some self experimentation with my "natural" sleep cycle. I shut off any kind of outside information concerning time (i.e. no light from outside, no clocks, no contact), wrote an app where I'd press buttons depending on when I wake up and when I go to bed (without telling me what time it actually is) and set an alarm for the morning of the last Sunday (so I won't miss having to go to work again).
The result was i
Re: Let me be the first to say... (Score:4, Insightful)
"Sorry boss, I like to stay up late"?
It's not a problem for you, so it's not a problem? This may come as an amazing shock to you but not everyone can sleep at will. Not everyone can choose when to sleep. Going to be earlier for you lets you go to sleep earlier? Great for you. Not everyone is exactly like you.
Quite a few people are at the mercy of their circadian rhythms, and nothing short of addictive sleep aids will cause them to fall asleep earlier. Youcan, of course, always set the alarm earlier. Thus a big problem with sleep deprivation.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
It's not a problem for you, so it's not a problem?
That's pretty much the unofficial motto of slashdot isn't it?
"I've got a really well paid job, nice big house, a couple of cars, a great family, wonderful friends and a cock like a rolling pin. If you're poor, uneducated and unhappy, it's because you're a big fat loser".
Re: (Score:2)
Everything you said is true, and potentially useful.
That does not change the fact that many people will read your post and imagine grumpy cat making a face. It means you have crossed the line into geezerhood. Welcome! Don't forget to pick up your complementary sock suspenders.
Re: (Score:2)
Because we need to prepare them for a life of sleep deprivation caused by having to start work at 8am on the dot.
Re: (Score:2)
But if they performed better, they'd be able to get jobs where they're not slaves to the rhythm.
Re: (Score:2)
When America was brimming with manufacturing jobs, and manufacturing jobs were among the best jobs available, that was a great plan for a school system.
But the world has changed, and manufacturing jobs are history, and narrowly fixed work schedules across a team make less sense every decade.
Re: (Score:2)
narrowly fixed work schedules across a team make less sense every decade.
So we should only expect them to persist for the next century or so.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I had to walk a mile and a quarter each way. In the winter I got to take the bus. 10c each way was too expensive for my family to support year round.
People wonder why there are so many obese kids.
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure it's so parents have time to drop off their kids at school on the way to work.
Parents should not be taking their kids to school after the age of about 4 or 5.
It is one of the most ridiculous things to have happened during my lifetime. Kids should walk, cycle or get a bus (depending on distance). There is absolutely no advantage whatsoever in parents driving their kids to school. It makes the kids physically lazy and infantilises them. They have no freedom to play with friends on the way to school, or hang around afterwards talking, or explore on their own.
It's all part of society's destruction of childhood. Children go from toddler straight to whining entitled adolescent.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
No, blame the schools because they let out the kids out at 4 PM.
If schools let them out at 1 PM instead of 4 PM, then cartoon time and prime time can be moved forward 3 hours, and then little school children everywhere could go to bed at 8 PM instead of 11 PM, and nobody would be having this problem of not enough sleep.
Re: (Score:2)
Or how about putting your kids to bed at a reasonable hour in the evening instead of 9 or 10 or 11.
Been there, done that. I can make my 9 y.o. daughter go to bed, ensure she has no electronic distractions, and that the lights are out and stay out. If she's not ready to sleep, an hour or two can go by and she'll still be awake. She has been like that for years.
Re: (Score:3)
Try This:
http://stereopsis.com/flux/ [stereopsis.com]
Super cool app to change the color temp of your computer screen automatically toward red in the evening so that you can go to sleep. I run it and I normally don't even notice it in action. As it gets dark outside the colors still look correct. But I don't feel like my eyes get burned by the computer at night.
It's way cool.
Re: (Score:2)
The point is the alarmingly high percentage of children affected in some countries, especially the US, combined with reasons and large scale effects.
CC.
Re: (Score:3)
It's not "duh" though, adults grossly underestimate the amount of sleep kids need, starting at about age 1 all way through age 25. I tell people my 2 year old goes to be at 7:30PM and wakes up at 7:00AM, then has a 2 hours nap. I've gotten everything from incredulous stares to accusations that I'm somehow a bad parent for letting my kid sleep that much. Very, very rarely do people say anything positive about it. Never mind the fact that all the research points to kids 1-3 years old needing 12-14 hours o
Re: (Score:3)
I tell people my 2 year old goes to be at 7:30PM and wakes up at 7:00AM, then has a 2 hours nap. I've gotten everything from incredulous stares to accusations that I'm somehow a bad parent for letting my kid sleep that much
Same here - Lights out at 7:30 and a big nap in the afternoon, Although my 2 year old boy seems to be ready to get up at 6am most mornings.
I think the reason you (we) get stares is parents have to adjust their lifestyles if they want their kids to get enough sleep, and they're not k
Re: (Score:2)
Sometimes you don't have any choice in the hours you and your kids need to keep.
If you want to hang out at The Olive Garden at 9pm get a sitter, or don't have kids. Forcing some poor exhausted toddler to sit in a high chair because your work hours means you can't enjoy unlimited breadsticks until after their bedtime is child abuse.
Re: (Score:2)
Some people get home from their jobs at 7:30pm you insensitive clod!
The true insensitive clod is someone who values their own convenience more than what is good for their children.
The selfishness of some parents, who insist on keeping these "job" things for their own amusement. Of course they make excuses about needing the money to feed, clothe and house their children, and will complain that they don't have infinite flexibility in their work schedules, but I never believe them.
Re: (Score:2)
No, that describes "the job you like". You can find a way to work different hours. It just won't be a job you like. That is very .. inconvenient.
Of course, jobs are so abundant these days that you can just pick one that has the hours most convenient for your child. Certainly there's gotta be a burger flipping job like that. With food stamps you can probably feed the kid, and housing w/ roaches builds character. Forget about medical care though.
P.S. I assume you speak from experience, and had to change jobs so that you could put your kid(s) to bed by 7PM.
Re: (Score:2)
Never mind the fact that all the research points to kids 1-3 years old needing 12-14 hours of sleep per day.
That's nice. How about if your kid just won't sleep that long, no matter when you put them to bed? Given the handful that a two year old can be, most parents pray for their kids to sleep a lot. Never worked with my daughter. Given my flexible schedule and that my wife was able to be a stay-at-home mom then, we could and did try any schedule. The bottom line is that people differ, which simplistic recommendations often don't take into account.
Re: (Score:3)
Seriously?
Okay, here's what you were thinking:
"Duh! Obviously sleep deprivation is bad for children!"
But here's the full implication of your response:
"Duh! Anybody who doesn't know that 73% of 9-10 year olds and 80% of 13-14 year olds in the US are sleep deprived is a moron."
Measurements are important. That's what science is all about.
Weird... (Score:2)
Ambient noise (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd wager ambient urban noise levels have increased tremendously over the last while as well. Given increasingly shoddy construction, antisocial behaviour from the party set and general vehicular activity you'd have to be living in a rural area to get a decent night's sleep in most places. It's a very serious business with major health implications for children and adults.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think that's a problem. I was raised in a city, and now that I moved I have trouble getting asleep without the noise. Ambient noise is relatively easy to get used to.
Re: (Score:2)
So if it doesn't apply to YOU, then it must be wrong. :)
I agree habit plays a large role, but think of it like this: if you were to be raised in a more natural environment, maybe your today's performance would have been 150% of what it is now. Truth is, you wouldn't know. It's one of the things you can't prove unless you go back to birth and start off on a different path, and then a Godlike power would compare the two
Re: (Score:2)
...antisocial behaviour from the party set...
Wait, what? How many geeks have been harped on to get out, go to parties and see real people? Now the truth -- seeing other people is anti-social!
Guess it's back to playing violent video games with a million other people, the last vestige of polite society.
Re: (Score:2)
It seems you've never been annoyed by loud thumping music that you can hear from ten blocks away.
Re: (Score:2)
Construction has gotten much better, especially windows which now transmit far less sound. Vehicles have gotten quieter and the party set is not going to risk arrest by being that loud.
Re: (Score:2)
Some of today's vehicles have five thousand watts subwoofers. You think those are quieter, really?
Re: (Score:2)
He's not talking about the sound system. Engine noise and road noise from modern cars is considerably less than what it used to be.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, but if i lived on a farm I would have had to kill myself long ago.
Re: (Score:2)
Ambient noises are not a problem. Far from it, given the fact that there's an entire industry geared around providing ambient sounds as a sleep aid for people who don't have enough of them. While sirens and the like may be annoying, most people don't have to deal with those most nights, and the rest of the ambient sounds are no more difficult to get used to than anything else. When I was a kid living in the suburbs, I remember leaving my bedroom window open at night so that I could fall asleep to the sound
Re: (Score:3)
Nature doesn't have cars with subwoofers, harley-davidson bikes and idiots using streets as racing tracks.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd agree. However, you're failing to draw a distinction between ambient noise and just plain old noise. All of those are noise, certainly, but none of those would typically be classified as ambient, which is what the OP was talking about and I was responding to.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Wow, I'm impressed. (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.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Schools have historically shoved their schedules extra-early so that extracurricular events like sports can occur before the sun goes down, but after school.
Solution, abolish sports. You go to school to learn. You can play with your balls on your own time.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You also get a LOT of pushback from the students themselves - while they like the late start, the don't like the evening endings because it means less dollars for their pockets to buy stuff with (i.e., part time jobs, babysitting, chores, etc). Turns out m
Fuddy-duddy (Score:2)
I may seem like a fuddy-duddy to some other parents with the ~somewhat~ early (or at least not late) bedtimes we have established for our grade school aged kids during the week, but the further I go, the more I believe we're doing the right thing. I may not be able to control whether they get sick or not, or if they always eat all their veggies, but the one thing I CAN make sure of is that they always get a good night's sleep. And the older they get, the more important the benefits of being well rested ar
Re: (Score:2)
I may seem like a fuddy-duddy to some other parents with the ~somewhat~ early (or at least not late) bedtimes we have established for our grade school aged kids during the week, but the further I go, the more I believe we're doing the right thing. I may not be able to control whether they get sick or not, or if they always eat all their veggies, but the one thing I CAN make sure of is that they always get a good night's sleep.
You could also make sure they eat a healthy nutritious breakfast. However, in many school districts, the failures of the parents to feed their children properly has resulted in free breakfast and lunch for every student. The rationale is that they don't learn if they are hungry, and you cannot single out the poor kids to feed for free because that would hurt their self-esteem.
This free lunch even extends, in some places, to the SUMMER, when they aren't in school and the excuse that they won't be able to l
Re: (Score:2)
You are absolutely correct. It was sometimes a drag having to leave a social function early because our son needed to be in bed by 8:30... We even suffered the ribbing of friends who let their young (gr 3) children stay up until 10 or 11 so they could stay at social functions...
Our son is 11 now, is in bed by 8:45, and is woken up by me at 6:45. He complains that most of his friends at school get to stay up until 10 and why can't he, etc ... On very rare occasions, does he get to stay up late and it sure
Slashdot Theorem (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Technology can be the problem. But if it is, then it must also be the solution.
Re: (Score:2)
Technology can be the problem. But if it is, then it must also be the solution.
You must be thinking of alcohol.
Re:Slashdot Theorem (Score:5, Funny)
Alcohol is no solution, don't be ridiculous.
Pay some attention in chemistry class, it's a distillate.
Re:Slashdot Theorem (Score:5, Insightful)
When the problem predates the technology (or at least the wide adoption of the technology), it's pretty unlikely that the technology is the primary problem. It may be aggravating things, but the root cause is somewhere else.
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously it must be the parents' fault.
I think I would have been sleep deprived as well if I had had a portable computer or game console as a child. Without those to pass the time when I wasn't ready to sleep, I used to read books, but somehow reading a book doesn't make you less sleepy. I mean, if you're really into the story you can stay awake for just one more chapter, but it takes some effort. With computers, it's very easy to lose track of time. Maybe it's the light coming from the monitor or maybe it
My observations with my neighbors and friends with (Score:3)
...kids, is that many parents don't put their kids to sleep the same way they did when I was a child (70's/80's.)
My kids go to sleep between 7:30PM and 8:30PM depending upon their ages (ranging from 5-9.)
At 9PM at night during the week I'll hear quite a lot of our neighbors' kids still playing outside, much less getting ready for bed.
School starts VERY early here as well (kids have to be at school by 7:30AM.)
Now, some of these kids who are staying up later are doing quite well in school, so who knows. It's just different from when I was a kid and it seemed to be a pervasive adult conspiracy to put all children to bed early...
Re:My observations with my neighbors and friends w (Score:4, Informative)
...kids, is that many parents don't put their kids to sleep the same way they did when I was a child (70's/80's.)
My kids go to sleep between 7:30PM and 8:30PM depending upon their ages (ranging from 5-9.)
At 9PM at night during the week I'll hear quite a lot of our neighbors' kids still playing outside, much less getting ready for bed.
School starts VERY early here as well (kids have to be at school by 7:30AM.)
Now, some of these kids who are staying up later are doing quite well in school, so who knows. It's just different from when I was a kid and it seemed to be a pervasive adult conspiracy to put all children to bed early...
My parents made me go to bed at 7:30 till I was in middle school. It was evil. I didn't need that much sleep, and the sun was still shining most the time. It would take me hours to fall asleep. If that help my grades, I don't know. I was the kid who always had the "can't pay attention" in class. But later, in middle school and beyond, when I wasn't going to bed at 7:30 (it was then more 9-10ish) I got B+ grades without trying.
Re: (Score:2)
Damn, that sounds rough. I think when I was 10 I could stay up to 9PM.
One-size-fits-all Education in the US (Score:2)
How much of that "can't pay attention" is due to the one-size-fits-all education levels by age/grade in American education? We have programs for slower students very early on, but gifted students are expected to stay behind and be bored to tears doing lessons and homework for concepts they already grasp. The fi
Less Homework (Score:3)
It's easy to blame computers and cell phones, how about not giving out 5+ hours of homework a night? To make it worse most of it was busy work in addition to the nightly reading assignments. When you have 6+ classes per day with reading and assignments, that stuff adds up pretty quickly. In high school, I was lucky to get 4 hours a night.
Even my heaviest college semesters weren't anywhere near as busy as my average high school week.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Actually, I graduated in 2005 and my workload was not exaggerated. I was in all AP and College Prep classes and, ironically, I had a lighter workload than most of the general placement students who did nothing but repetitive worksheets that ask the same questions 50 times with slightly different phrasing.
Re: (Score:3)
it's probably been a good 30 years since you were in high school. I just watched my niece graduate from a suburban US High school in a relatively affluent neighborhood - graduating in the top quintile of students. The homework load you suggest is greatly exaggerated
You can't generalize that way. Schools vary enormously from place to place. I did graduate from high school more than 30 years ago, in the same basic area, and I can tell you that my daughter in the 4th grade has a lot more homework than when I was that age. The idea seems to be "more work is better, regardless of whether is ridiculously redundant busy work". My wife and I make sure my daughter always does it, but it's a pain. She constantly complains about it nonsensical busywork. What my wife and I can't
Re: (Score:2)
You can't generalize that way.
DID I MENTIONED I WAS AMERICAN????
Another argument won.
Re: (Score:3)
My wife and I make sure my daughter always does it, but it's a pain. She constantly complains about it nonsensical busywork. What my wife and I can't do is admit that we agree with her.
Why on earth not? Is there some problem with telling your kids the truth?
Think about how you'd feel if you were in her position.
And vast amounts of nonsensical busy work does not prepare you in any war for a good career. Nor does it help academic improvement in any way. A bit of drilling is good, but vast amounts of crap are
Re: (Score:3)
"Judging by your archaic User ID,"
An ID in the half-million range is "archaic" now? Shit!
Isn't this just a special case of... (Score:3)
..."sleep deprivation lowers all achievement in everyone"?
Who's surprised?
(Mind you, I'm all for conducting experiments to test things we all "know". I just don't usually expect to see those experiments classified as newsworthy.)
Obvious solution (Score:2)
Start School Later (Score:5, Interesting)
The book 'the end of homework' explained this pretty well. Research has found that school starts an hour before children are typically awake. School starts so early so that there can be long afternoons of sports practice. Prioritizing learning over sports would thus lead to improved learning.
I recall Junior year of high school. Biology and Geometry were my first two classes, and I would fall asleep during the latter due to late nights exploring the nascent Interweb. Late at night there are no parents nagging you, you can go to sleep whenever you want, it's quiet and you can think or do whatever you want. And, ya know, less sleep means more free time, of which high schoolers feel quickly slipping away as their homework load increases.
Science (Score:5, Informative)
This link from the BBC talks about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7932950.stm [bbc.co.uk]
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.
It's a cultural thing (Score:2)
Rule for life: Don't impose your viewpoints on others. This also applies to wanting the schools to start later to suit the kids who go to bed late. (Maybe start a different class with the same stuff, staggered by two hours... hey, there's in money in this... I hold the copyright, remember).
Blame The parents (Score:3)
Common sense would tell anyone that it is parents fault for allowing their children to stay up all hours of the night. Simply confiscate all electronic devices at bedtime. It is the parents responsibility to raise their children, not the state.
Radio (Score:2)
Sleep tips (Score:2)
1: Install F.lux [stereopsis.com] - a popular utility to reduce the colour temperature of your PC's screen at night.
2: Get a cooling fan to provide pink noise. This helps drown out any random noises. Also helps during the summer to have it cool your face as you sleep. During the winter, I have a heater right next to it, so w
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Did you even read the summary? Kids are getting dumber because of social/cultural/technological/material reasons. The schools are getting dumber to accommodate the kids who are getting dumber, and the problem is a downward self-propagating spiral.
Re:So? Public schools are garbage. (Score:5, Insightful)
The beauty of it is that they will grow up to have kids of their own and will do an even sorrier job of raising them than their parents did with them. It's like watching water flow down a drain. Thank God for immigration. Without it the US would be doomed. In particular the oriental immigrants seem to do well due no doubt to actually having a solid family oriented culture. Here in the US most kids seemed to be raised by electronic devices.
Re: (Score:3)
The beauty of it is that they will grow up to have kids of their own and will do an even sorrier job of raising them than their parents did with them. It's like watching water flow down a drain.
So each generation has been getting worse, and this has been going on since at least the days of Ancient Greece.
I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint.
-- Hesiod, 8th century BC
Thank God for immigration. Without it the US would be doomed. In particular the oriental immigrants seem to do well due no doubt to actually having a solid family oriented culture.
"Oriental"? Is this the 19th century?
More pointedly, you have to love those positive stereotypes. Presumably you realize that every positive stereotype is just a counterpoint to a negative stereotype. Forget the stereotyping of native born Americans. People who would cringe at the mere hint of a negative stereotype of any other nation will happily embrace the most negati
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Did you even read the summary? Kids are getting dumber because of social/cultural/technological/material reasons.
Actually I read the article, but had to go back to the summary to find the inaccurate characterization of the article that you cite. Perhaps sleep deprivation adversely affected the submitter's reading comprehension.
The schools are getting dumber to accommodate the kids who are getting dumber, and the problem is a downward self-propagating spiral.
That's not even in the summary - it's purely your invention. Maybe you need a good night's sleep.
Re: (Score:2)
Did you even read the summary? Kids are getting dumber because of social/cultural/technological/material reasons.
R you sure it's technological? I'd rather think it is the "social" part of it that is the cause, no matter the other factors that trigger it.
Let me put it in other words: maybe it's not "No kids let behind" but "Not kid gets ahead".
Be Prepared Son (Score:2)
Water is wet, news at 11.
...the sky is blue, and women have secrets.... and old Satan Claus, Jimmy, he's out there, and he's just getting stronger.
Re: (Score:2)
I have to be at work... when I'm bloody well there.
One of the job perks I insist in is a lot of leeway when it comes to my working hours. In return you get top level work at a very affordable price, I don't need much money, but I need my sleep. Also, I think my employer has the right to get me at full potential for every hours he has to pay me for, which is not the case if I'm still asleep and running on automatic.
Re: (Score:2)
So here is a tip. If your kid is sleep deprived because he is up late playing a game or using a tablet, then tell them to stop, failing that you take it away.
Great tip - why didn't I think of that? I've also made sure the lights are out and stay out. My daughter still won't fall asleep until her body is good and ready. After a couple of years we just decided having her lie in bed staring at the ceiling every night was silly.
I'll bet you're a morning person, aren't you? Typical of an AC. Typical morning person sanctimony. Did you know that Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot and Genghis Khan were all morning people? Figures, doesn't it. Of course Euclid, Archimedes, N
Re: (Score:3)
Would love to see the sleep deprivation stats on college students...
And medical students and residents.
No, medical residents are super-human creatures. As such it's perfectly reasonable to have them perform surgery after not having slept for two days, while mere humans should get at least 8 hours of sleep before attending math class.