It’s tense in my house right now.  Kentucky is playing South Carolina in basketball.  My son has a band director clap just like his father, one clap when something bad happens and two when something good happens and I jump just about every time he does it.  Again, it’s highly entertaining.  But while the two men in my house are completely locked into this game, I find myself looking at the crowd and I notice a boy about 10 waving at the camera.  Then my next thought is, it’s 10:20 ET where this game is being played.  Doesn’t this kid have school tomorrow?

I see this all the time though.  Kids going to sporting and other events that end late and then so many of these kids end up having to go to before school daycare at a really early hour and then attend school for the next seven hours.  No wonder these kids can’t focus for an entire day.  But it’s not just family events. It seems coaches and dance teachers are scheduling games, practices and rehearsals until 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening.  Assuming it takes a while to get home, relax and get ready for bed, we’re talking less hours than any child should have to function in a healthy way.

The National Sleep Foundation says children aged 6-13 should get 9-11 hours of sleep per night.  So, let’s talk about this kid in the crowd.  The game should be finished about 11:00 p.m. their time, then they have to get home and into bed.  We’re probably talking about midnight.  Even if the kid doesn’t have to get up until 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. you can see where the sleep deprivation can happen.  I don’t know about you, but when I’m sleep deprived, I don’t think as well, I’m short-tempered and, if this pattern continues, I end up getting sick.  And we wonder why kids aren’t doing well in school.

The pressure to have our kids involved in every activity possible isn’t helping and the fact that parents are allowing coaches and instructors to set such late hours for kids isn’t helping either.  Whatever happened to just saying no to things that aren’t good for our kids?  They have enough to do with homework and needing free time to unwind.  Maybe one activity at a time would be better than something every night.  The every night thing usually turns into running through a drive-thru somewhere, so now we have sleep deprivation AND poor eating habits.  Wonderful things to teach children as they grow up and continue these habits as adults.

So, let’s call out the adults in these situations.  There is selfishness on the part of these adults who I’m sure think they have the best of intentions.  They want their kids to socialize, to be a part of organized sports, to have fun experiences outside of school, to spend time with them at special events.   Coaches and other instructors are competing for hours and spaces and they feel like they have no choice but to schedule things later and later. But when it becomes a daily or even an every other day occurrence, we’re now looking at what is not in the best interest of the child.

So, as I finish this blog and get ready to go to bed myself,  I know I’ll be going to bed sooner than some of my students.  And those students will come into my room in the morning with dark circles under their eyes and a lack of focus.  And as the afternoon comes along, I’ll have my younger students who will get angry and frustrated about things and little ones who will cry at the drop of a hat.  We don’t give them time to rest anymore during the school day.  The are thrown immediately into learning the minute they walk into school and it’s a hurry up schedule for the rest of the day.  It’s not healthy.

There is a lot of discussion today about a higher incidence of mental illness with younger and younger kids.  I wonder if it’s because we’re not providing the very basic of care for them, especially in terms of sleep.  Research says that sleep deprivation in children can cause depression, cause them to get hurt and sick more easily,  suffer academically and perform poorly athletically.  It’s a simple fix and can be reversed.  More sleep.  So, I’m going to get my 8 hours now so that I can function tomorrow.  Hopefully this will encourage parents and other important adults in my students’ lives to look at what they’re doing and work together to make things better for all of our kids.