School children are failing to get enough sleep, warns report
School children are failing to get the amount of sleep they need to stay alert while in classes and are spending more time watching TV than doing homework, new research has suggested.
The research by the Schools Health Education Unit reveals that almost half of 14 to 15 year old girls admit they are not getting the amount of sleep needed to stay alert at school and concentrate on their work.Two fifths of 14 to 15 year old boys said the same.The study, based on data gathered on more than 83,000 children in Years 6, 8 and 10 in 2010, also reveals that the proportion of youngsters getting eight hours or more of sleep a night drops with age.Four fifths of 12 and13 year olds said they got eight hours sleep a night, compared to 61% of 14-15-year-old girls and 66% of boys of this age.And almost half (48%) of the youngsters questioned said they do not normally get enough sleep for their health.
School children are failing to get enough sleep, warns report
School children are failing to get the amount of sleep they need to stay alert while in classes and are spending more time watching TV than doing homework, new research has suggested.
The research by the Schools Health Education Unit reveals that almost half of 14 to 15 year old girls admit they are not getting the amount of sleep needed to stay alert at school and concentrate on their work.
Two fifths of 14 to 15 year old boys said the same.
The study, based on data gathered on more than 83,000 children in Years 6, 8 and 10 in 2010, also reveals that the proportion of youngsters getting eight hours or more of sleep a night drops with age.
Four fifths of 12 and13 year olds said they got eight hours sleep a night, compared to 61% of 14-15-year-old girls and 66% of boys of this age.
And almost half (48%) of the youngsters questioned said they do not normally get enough sleep for their health.
The same study also revealed that children are spending more time in front of the TV or computer than doing homework.
Almost a quarter of boys (23%) in Years 8 and 10 spent more than two hours playing computer games the day before they were surveyed, while around 6.5% of girls said the same.
One in seven of the Year 8 and 10 pupils (14%) questioned said that they spent over two hours watching TV.
But only 3% said they spent this amount of time on homework, with a third (36%) saying they spent no time at all on it, and 41% saying their homework took up to 30 minutes.
Cathy Ranson, editor-in-chief of parenting website Netmums.com, said: "The findings in this study make interesting reading for parents, particularly the fact that a very large proportion of young people admit to not getting enough sleep for them to stay alert and concentrate at school.
"In an age where many young people have access to a computer, TV or mobile phone in their bedroom these findings don't come as a huge surprise.
"Encouraging our offspring to switch off and go to sleep seems to be the key to helping them feeling alert and able to function at school."
The report also found that a third of girls aged 10 to 11, and 29% of those aged 12 to 13 are afraid of going to school because of bullying at least sometimes.
Girls are more fearful than boys, the report noted, and the older they get the less afraid they become.
Researchers also found that Year 10 boys are the most likely to be bullies themselves.
And 6% of boys aged 14 to 15 said others may fear going to school because of bullies, while 10% admitted they had bullied someone last year.
The National Children's Bureau's Sue Steel, co-ordinator of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said: "These figures show that being bullied and the fear of bullying in school are serious concerns for significant numbers of children and young people."
No comments:
Post a Comment