Adolescents and Sleep

The importance of sufficient quality sleep has long been known as being critical to wider health in all humans. It is particularly important in children and young adults as it is part of the wider developmental requirements.

It is well understood that sleep deprivation can lead to serious complications in physical and mental health in people of all ages. Indeed, the wide research has become more nuanced to include an understanding of the particular sleep needs of adolescents. Getting sufficient quality sleep in part explains why young people are particularly somnolent in the mornings and reluctant to rise and shine in the mornings. Yet when a Cramlington Learning Community in the north east of England introduced a staggered start to the day, allowing young people to access this sleep period, the outrage in the national press was scathing. It was seen as ‘pandering to laziness’ even though it was based on sound and accepted research (National Sleep Foundation)

In this article from BOLD, Annie Brookman-Byrne makes the argument for schools paying more regard to children’s sleep: Adolescents need sleep to learn

 

About educationalist04

I'm convinced we can, as a species, do much better than this if we set our minds to being much more positive and productive towards our fellow humans. The solution is learning - creating independent and autonomous learners who can problem solve, innovate and create a better more equitable and sustainable world. My books, Future Proof Your School and Re-Examining Success together with this blog, explore how better learning outcomes for all can be achieved.

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