We all know the effects of sleep deprivation on adults - some of you may have seen the news program comparing sleep deprivation to drunkenness in terms of impaired driving, and the sleep deprived individuals were far more impaired than the drunk drivers.
But the effects of sleep deprivation on children are pretty substantial as well. In addition to allowing our kids to eat a lot of junk and become obese and malnourished, we have allowed kids to fall into our patterns of being too busy and not getting enough rest.
Inda Shaenen has written a book called The 7:00 Bed Time, addressing this issue. According to Schaenen, if children are harried, cranky, unpleasant, having trouble in school or showing other behavioral problems, it may be that they are sleep deprived.
By way of demonstration, Schaenen asked the 4th grade class at her childrens' school if they felt they got enough sleep. Only three children raised their hands indicating "yes", and these were, incidentally the only three who were eating breakfast. Schaenen also talked to a 14 year old 8th grader who is a top student, and athlete who plays 2 sports, plays the cello and piano, and lifts weights. According to the boy, he has no time to himself. When asked what he would do with 3 hours, he said sleep!
Dr. Judith Owens, a pediatrician at Brown University, published a study in 2000 that showed that 37% of children from middle class families were showing at least one sign of sleep deprivation. Owens states that children between the ages of 5 and 15 should be the most alert people on the planet - not falling asleep in class!
William C. Dement, a sleep researcher at Stanford University, has long linked sleep deprivation with children's behavior and learning problems. According to him, chronically tired kids are not only cranky and irritable, but easily frustrated and depressed.
Loss of short-term memory, diminished ability to organize thoughts and material, and trouble with speech development are other manifestations of sleep deprivation.
Studies show that sleep deprivation coupled with 2 or more hours of television watching each day exacerbate these problems.
And of course, chronically sleep-deprived children become chronically sleep deprived adults who suffer from less resiliency, less ability to cope with stress, lowered immunity, and less empathy, to name a few problems.
So, as we are contemplating our own health and that of our clients, we should not only look at our own sleep and relaxation patterns, but those of our children. It's all part of preparing them for the future!
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