Getting good night's sleep a struggle for UAE pupils

Teachers often complain about sleep deprivation among their pupils in classrooms.

Switching up school hours so students can get additional time to sleep in the morning has been debated by parents, youngsters and educators for a long while. 
Teachers often complain about sleep deprivation among their pupils in classrooms as they see heads down on desks, less engagement and tired faces. 
Now, teachers are saying it's the parents? responsibility to ensure they enforce a strict routine that should be followed, including tighter rules around gadget usage. 
A physical education teacher and well-being lead at GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis, Thomas Nelson, said: "More students appear sleep-deprived due to a plethora of reasons. Social media and the effects of 'blue lighting' from technologies had impacted this greatly. 
"As an academy, we recommend that our students don't use technologies at least 90 minutes before they plan to sleep. Routine and diet are also paramount to effective sleep. 
"We find that many students do not have a set bedtime or routine. Parents need to become strict when asking their children to sleep at a reasonable hour and remove temptations from their bedrooms, such as mobile phones, laptops and game consoles." 
A teacher at Sharjah Indian School, Latha Narasimhan, believes there is an "urgent need" to address sleep deprivation among pupils. 
She said many factors can play a role in disturbing a child's and a teen's sleep, including the continuous use of phones and other electronics before bedtime. 
"Overuse of gadgets and obsession with social media platforms lead to wastage of waking hours, thereby pushing academic work to the last minute and leading to the postponement of sleep time," she said. 
"Sleep is a vital biological need that revitalises and energises the brain, making it ready to support learning and concentration. However, even minimum hours of sleep requirement are never prioritised - thereby impacting the students' academic performance and mental well-being. Poor grades, anxiety and depression may result from this. Lack of sleep affects their mental and psychological behaviour and tampers with their cognitive abilities." 
Swapnaja Deshpande, a school counsellor at Apsam Indian International School Sharjah, said parents need to set a better example for kids, especially when it comes to their electronic usage habits. 
"Children are being raised in nuclear families wherein both the working parents try to catch up with the day's chores until late night, resulting in disturbed sleeping routines. 
"Discipline, time management and learning to prioritise are the keys to follow every routine. Children are wet clay: It is important to inculcate good habits in them as early as possible. At the onset of puberty, physiological and social changes in children may disrupt their sleep," she said. 
"In today's generation, students from a young age are 'online virtually and offline physically'. Their cup of milk is their device and smartphones are extensions of them. On average, children and adolescents spend five hours a day on media for personal, entertainment or academic reasons. Late-evening use of electronics and high level of visual and cognitive stimulation from Internet surfing and texting negatively impact children's sleep." 
Educators are also blaming the unhealthy eating habits of children, saying that it contributes greatly to lack of sleep. Nelson said high sugar content, particularly in drinks, should be avoided. 
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

Cramming schoolwork leaves students sleepless
High school students are the ones suffering the most with sleep deprivation due to the pressure of exams and graduation, pupils have said. Honey Mathew, a Grade 11 student at The Indian High School in Dubai, said these same students also spend whatever free time they have - which is before bed - online or on their phones. 
"It's not an uncommon thing for a high school student to laugh when they see a banner or a post with words saying 'teens require seven to eight hours of sleep' when they know the truth that getting even six hours is a marvelous thing to dream of," Mathew said. 
"With exceptions to students binge-watching shows, surfing on their phones or going out at night, increasing stress levels and number of exams are also a contributing factor towards diminishing sleep. Many students would understand when I say that the nights before exams are when real study starts and sleep ends. I have literally seen a night turn to day during my pre-boards." 
She said the effects of lack of sleep are clearly seen in students the next day, when they turn up with heavy under-eye circles and bags. "Insufficient sleep causes drowsiness and leads to students acting like zombies. This affects their mental and physical health enormously. So the next time your kid acts snappy or a student can't pay attention in class, don't brood over it - maybe the poor kid just didn't get enough sleep," Mathew added. 
Another student, Hritika Tripathi from Delhi Private School in Sharjah, said she struggles to concentrate in class whenever she sleeps late and has to wake up early to catch the bus. 
She said sleep deprivation could directly impact academic results and even contribute to obesity. 
"In the UAE, most schools start early in the morning and, due to traffic, school bus comes to pick us up at 5.30am. Students get inadequate sleep because they go to bed late and wake up early. Thus, sleep deprivation is becoming common among the students. To avoid this, I follow a proper routine and strive to manage my time well. I tell my friends to read books before they go to bed," Tripathi said. 
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com