To sleep, perchance to get better grades
A Tyneside high school is giving pupils a longer lie-in – in the hope it improves their concentration in lessons
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
ALAMY
A five-month experiment was launched at Monkseaton High School in Whitley Bay. Pupils can indulge in a big breakfast before starting lessons at 10am.
enlarge
It is what many teenagers tell their parents: "I'd do better at school if you'd only let me sleep in every morning." Now an 850-pupil comprehensive has taken students at their word and put back the start of the day in the hope they turn up better prepared for learning.
A five-month experiment was launched at Monkseaton High School in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, after half-term with the backing of pupils, teachers and parents. Instead of traipsing into school bleary-eyed every morning at 9am, pupils can indulge in a big breakfast before starting lessons at 10am.
Before sanctioning the change, the headteacher, Dr Paul Kelley, took advice from sleep experts, in particular Russell Foster, a professor of circadian neuroscience at Brasenose College, Oxford.
In his research, Professor Foster has highlighted studies which suggest that teenagers coping with the onset of puberty need more sleep than the rest of the population. As a result, they are likely to be at their peak performance in the afternoon rather than the morning, and continuous interruption to their sleep patterns is likely to have an impact on their health and mental capacity.
Professor Foster's tests appear to confirm that students perform better in the afternoons. "It is time we stopped ignoring the sleep patterns of young adults," he said. "Sleep provides all of us with our sense of wellbeing and the faculty that helps make us human: our extraordinary capacity for creativity and innovation. It is cruel to impose a cultural pattern on teenagers that makes them underachieve. Most school regimes force teenagers to function at a time of day that is sub-optimal, and many university students are exposed to considerable dangers from sleep deprivation."
Speaking to The Independent, he welcomed Monkseaton High School's decision to postpone the start of the school day.
However, he stressed: "Knowing that kids want to go to bed and get up later, you can't just give them free rein. They have to take some responsibility for their own actions themselves. Knowing that they need nine-and-a-half hours' sleep, you should track that back from when they get up and make sure their room is dark with no TV on from then."
Initially, Dr Kelley wanted to make a more radical change to the school's timetable, pushing back the start time by two hours to 11am. However, a compromise deal saw it changed to 10am. Lessons carry on for an extra 30 minutes in the afternoons, with the school staying open for study until 5pm. "My view is that this is a very, very important issue because here is something that schools can do to improve the health and mental health of their pupils," Dr Kelley said.
Research shows that depression can set in if a human is constantly interrupted and woken from sleep.
The experiment has not won 100 per cent support from the school community and Dr Kelley pointed out that Monkseaton High still remained open from 8am until 5pm, so that parents with childcare problems, or families in which both partners had jobs, could still leave their child at school before going to work.
To further improve the standard of learning, the school has a £23m new building which, its pupils say, is designed like a football stadium. The classrooms are lighter and more spacious which help children to concentrate better in lessons.
Emelye Hood, 13, is a fan of the changes: "I get up about 8.30am to 8.45am and, with getting more sleep, it means I can concentrate more on my lessons."
Ryan Thompson, also 13, agreed. "I get a lie-in and you don't have to rush your breakfast in the morning," he said. "It means you don't get your lunch at school until 2pm but I don't mind that." But Connor Miller, 13, disagreed, saying: "I don't like the [new start] time because you get a bigger breakfast in the morning and you're not as hungry by lunchtime. I'd like to go back to the old time."
Dr Kelley said several schools in Canada and the United States had put back their starting times – but some had abandoned the idea because it was more difficult to fit in sporting fixtures with schools sticking to traditional timetables. He did not know of any in the UK doing what Monkseaton had done but felt it would "catch on" if the experiment was successful.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
He has been doing this since he was 13 and is now 17 - he is very tired but still gets very good grades
and also does Sat morning school and homework on sunday afternoon, lie in on sunday morning only#terms are very intense and holidays are long and for sleeping and having fun
The private schools have very long hours and yet all the boys get very high grades
On the continent schools start very early
I think this letting boys lie in is very indulgent and does not encourage the right thinking for life ahead
can't they just go to bed early in the evening instead of messing around to all hours?
If your son's physiolology is telling him he needs more sleep, and he is being routinely deprived of that, it cannot be healthy for him, and may have serious long-term consequences. Letting him have the sleep that his body requires is not being 'indulgent' (a very censorious word, that perhaps hints at your own- misguided - belief that sleep is for the slothful and indolent, rather than important for health reasons). And expecting teenager to go to bed early in the evening is just ludicrous in this day and age.
This is not the 19th century, when young people had nowhere to go and nothing to do in the evenings, and might just as well have gone to bed to escape the crushing tedium of their evenings. This is the 21st century, and young people require and expect a far higher degree of stimulation and excitement in their lives. Expecting any teenager to be in bed before 10pm is just laughable. And forbidding them from having a TV, music or computer in their bedroom probably amounts to child cruelty. Get real; we must adapt our lifestyles to the environment and times in which we live, and in the 21st century, that means teengers staying up late, falling asleep to the TV (though not ideal, it is unrealistic to think it won't happen), and rising later in the mornings. The problem is that most educators and employers - and apparently some parents - are still stuck in the 19th century (or earlier), and haven't grasped the new reality yet.
right now he has a massive social group of like minded people girls and boys and they have a very good social scene with parties on saturday nights and also don't forget the long holidays
he has loads of friends, does sports, debating, has made animations/documentaries and travelled on the World Challenge. In fact he has travelled all over the world and is very cosmopolitan. He loves fashion, trends and all the things that teens like but he has a very good work ethic
I feel sorry for you and I hope you are not a mother
It seems you come from that type of social sphere that thinks its a god given right to saturate kids with computer games and all kinds of diversions instead of encouraging them to learn and be part of an intelligentsia of the future that are creating new ideas for society , that are creative, intelligent, worldly and disciplined
Many people write how 21st century Britain has declined and the XFactor generation, these kids are easily brain washed and have no individuality
There is no way I would have allowed my kids computers or TV's in their bedrooms, bedrooms are for sleep and peace, drenching them in this constant media rubbish makes them tired and dull and stupid
you seem very stupid yourself so perhaps your offspring don't stand a chance
Don't feel sorry for me. I am not a mother, but if I were, I would go a little easier on my son than you appear to, and give him the opportunity to grow in ways that he chooses, rather than drive him to over-achieve at an early age and risk the repercussions of that in later life. I have know many very bright children (and was one myself) whose parents drove them so hard to achieve academically that they burned out in their late teens or early 20s, and some even had nervous breakdowns.
[It seems you come from that type of social sphere that thinks its a god given right to saturate kids with computer games]
Not all computer games are equivalent; some require a great deal of thought, strategic planning, goal-setting, data analysis, self-discipline and teamwork - precisely the sorts of skills that prove useful in later life. I play one such game myself - an economic and military strategy game in an online uinverse of thousands of players - and it is probably more challenging and mentally stimulating than playing chess or many other 'serious' recreational games.
I would recommend it to your sone, except that you are unlikely to pass on my recommendation, because of your obvious prejudice against all computer games.
[and all kinds of diversions instead of encouraging them to learn and be part of an intelligentsia of the future that are creating new ideas for society , that are creative, intelligent, worldly and disciplined]
Hmmm...you mean high-educated, well-read people with science degrees, Mensa IQs and careers in high-tech industries. Oooh, that wouild be *me* then :o) (Or did you think you were talking to someone who wouldn't qualify for your 'itnelligentsia'? Haha..!).
[Many people write how 21st century Britain has declined and the XFactor generation, these kids are easily brain washed and have no individuality]
I quite agree; I loathe and detest the X-Factor culture of modern Britain, the shallow consumerism of our society, and the terrifying stupidity, ignorance and lack of curiosity in the majority of our nation's youth. But I don't blame that on poor sleeping patterns or computer games; I blame it on a failure of vision in our leaders, on the exploitation of society by big business, on the endless incompetent meddling of politicians in our education system, and - not least - on poor parenting. You, at least, seem to take your role as a parent seriously, which is commendable - even though I think you sound like you have gone too far the other way, and risk being an over-zealous control-freak in your son's upbringing. I just hope he doesn't grow up to resent you for it.
[There is no way I would have allowed my kids computers or TV's in their bedrooms, bedrooms are for sleep and peace, drenching them in this constant media rubbish makes them tired and dull and stupid]
There is good media (i.e. educational, intellectually stimulating) and bad (i.e. vapid, meaningless entertainment; reality TV and other shallow trash); likewise, there are good uses for a computer (e.g. learning, creating, exploring, educational gaming) and bad (e.g. compulsive online chatting, brainless computer gaming); to differentiate between the two takes knowledge and discrimination - something you appear to lack, if your blanket condemnation of TVs and computers in bedrooms is any guide.
[you seem very stupid yourself]
On the contrary, I am in fact extremely smart - as all my friends and colleagues will confirm. :o) The only thing that is stupid is your last remark.
I think you are actually talking about your own parental experience underneath all this and perhaps that is something you need to reflect on
you probably have a stressful life and perhaps you yearn for some sleep
yes high achievers......well I would prefer to live in a society of high achievers than under achievers and if you look at the UK and its very liberal attitudes you will see that too much freedom is not good if it develops into a society that does not encourage young people to aim high. There is a fine line between pushing one's children to aim high and achieve in life and pushing them too much and I totally get that point and agree with you. That is why it is important to have lots of love in a family, communication about problems and make sure of leisure time together and support one's child to have lots of fun outside of school and in good activities. I do not believe in being too liberal in the name of 'rights' - in other words if you want your kids not to indulge in destructive behaviour, the parent has to set the parametres - there has to be a subtle system of reward and encouragement as well as discipline and the right for the child to find him/herself without parental interference. I think parenting is one of the hardest and yet most rewarding jobs in the world and it takes 100% commitment if done well. The act of being a parent is undervalued in western society and in the UK particularly the state has too much influence which is the result of a benefit system and a country that encourages people to be lazy. Going back to the original point, a country that encourages young people during term time to sleep late and lie in is BONKERS, it gives the wrong message about life
You seem to me quite young and in the process of finding yourself because you are confused in your reasoning
Of course watching good TV/films etc is important
But bedrooms are for sleeping after a day of activity and a child needs security and boundaries in order to feel safe and to relax. A violent computer game before bed is DREADFUL as is watching late night TV
I do take issue with your assumption that a good parent who takes his/her role seriously must be a control freak but i put that down to your lack of maturity
I can assure you that my children will rebel and resent at some level - that is the natural right of a teenager, I would be worried if they didn't but it won't be the lack of TV they will be rebelling about or the fact that they were denied sleep because of lessons, that is not happening, but rebellion is part of growing up and makes an individual but lets be clear, there are ways of rebelling and slumping infront of TV all day, consuming excessive alcohol etc is not rebellion that is stupidity, true rebellion is being an individual and striving for the best in oneself and not becoming a slave to a mass consumerism or mass brainwashing. Thinking for oneself is hard work and needs self discipline and self awareness. you have not quite made it yet, you are still quite conditioned by reading your remarks and in the process of becoming an adult but you may be on the wrong path to knowing yourself really as you have a few hangups to over come.
Apology accepted.
[I think you are actually talking about your own parental experience underneath all this and perhaps that is something you need to reflect on]
You either misunderstood my earlier remarks, or are jumping to wrong conclusions once again. Yes, I was a very bright child, but no, I did not have highly ambitious parents who tried to drive me to over-achieve. Of course my parents wanted me to do well, and were proud of my achievements in areas such as art, English and music. But I had the freedom to use my leisure time pretty much as I pleased, to pursue subjects and activities that interested me, and not only those dictated by my parents. As a result I acquired a love of reading and learning generally (and became an avid viewer of TV documentaries...), had a very rich and imaginative mental life as a child, and developed many of the intellectual skills that were to stand me in good stead later in life.
[you probably have a stressful life and perhaps you yearn for some sleep]
Yes, my life can be moderately stressful at times, though I have many ways of relaxing and unwinding. But I could always use more sleep :o)
[yes high achievers......well I would prefer to live in a society of high achievers than under achievers and if you look at the UK and its very liberal attitudes you will see that too much freedom is not good if it develops into a society that does not encourage young people to aim high.]
I agree. There are many things wrong with our education system and with the attitude of young people towards learning. There needs to be more discipline in young people and more respect for learning all round, whereas right now there is far too little discipline and something approaching an open contempt and ridiculing of learning and intelligence in our 'dumbed-down', lowest-common-denominator culture - a culture where young people only aspire to be pop stars (thank you, X-Factor!), footballers (thanks you, Premier League!) or TV actors/personalities (thak you, Big Brother/Hollyoaks/X-Factor/T4/etc.!), and where they only want to study easy, 'soft' subjects at university; a culture where none of them want a career as an engineer or scientist, and none of them want to study 'hard' subjects at university such as maths or physics, because it might overtax brains that have been turned to jelly by all the vacuous, shallow, superifical rubbish our culture exposes them to.
[There is a fine line between pushing one's children to aim high and achieve in life and pushing them too much and I totally get that point and agree with you. That is why it is important to have lots of love in a family, communication about problems and make sure of leisure time together and support one's child to have lots of fun outside of school and in good activities.]
Agreed on all points.
(cont)
[I do not believe in being too liberal in the name of 'rights' - in other words if you want your kids not to indulge in destructive behaviour, the parent has to set the parametres - there has to be a subtle system of reward and encouragement as well as discipline and the right for the child to find him/herself without parental interference.]
Absolutely - particularly with regard to 'rights'; children these days seem to think that they are owed 'respect', by each other and by adults, without actually having to earn it. And they take offence - sometimes violently - when that respect is withheld, or their right to it questioned. This compromises the teacher-pupil relationship, because children today feel empowered to challenge the authority of their teachers to a degree that would never have been tolerated in past decades. They seem to think they should be treated as equals to their teachers, while being extremely inferior in terms of their knowledge and maturity. I believe much youth crime is related to this same attitude of arrogant disrespect for their elders and for authority generally (this is not a new phenomenon, of course, but it does seem to have got markedly worse in recent years).
[I think parenting is one of the hardest and yet most rewarding jobs in the world and it takes 100% commitment if done well. The act of being a parent is undervalued in western society and in the UK particularly the state has too much influence which is the result of a benefit system and a country that encourages people to be lazy.]
I agree entirely.
[Going back to the original point, a country that encourages young people during term time to sleep late and lie in is BONKERS,]
No, if young people need more sleep than the tyranny of Standard Sleeping Hours imposed by their school timetables allows them, THAT is what is truly bonkers! Their learning ability will be impaired, their grades will suffer, and their educational and career opportunities will be dminished as a result. I know this - I have studied child psychology and educational psychology, and am widely read on physiology and brain science; the science of sleep happens to be a particular interest of mine.
[ it gives the wrong message about life]
Ah, your true reason for being against allowing teenagers adequate sleep is finally revealed, and is as I early suggested; you regard lying in as a sign of weakness, slothfulness and indolence. That is a very silly, irrational Victorian attitude, possibly deriving from the Protestant work ethic. Fortunately, this philosophy no longer holds sway in the 21st century, otherwise we would probably all still be dying in our 40s or 50s from overwork and chronic fatigue...
[You seem to me quite young and in the process of finding yourself because you are confused in your reasoning]
I am young in attitude, but older in years than you seem to imagine. And I can assure you that I 'found myself' years ago :o) And no, my reasoning is not confused, but perfectly clear and coherent. What it is NOT is dogmatic and closed to further analysis and evidence, as yours appears to be. And this is another example of you attempting to dismiss my arguments by resorting to cheap belittling - I am stupid, I am young, I am immature, etc. (none of which are true, I can assure you) - rather than trying to debate my points rationally. This suggests to me that you have no rational justifications for your opinions, but merely rigid, uncritically held beliefs (perhaps inherited from your parents, or your culture).
(cont)
[Of course watching good TV/films etc is important. But bedrooms are for sleeping after a day of activity and a child needs security and boundaries in order to feel safe and to relax. ]
Agreed - but none of those things disqualify them from having a TV or computer in their bedroom.
[A violent computer game before bed is DREADFUL as is watching late night TV]
Once again, you are failing to differentiate between good computer games and bad ones, and between good TV and bad TV. Of course it is not good for a child to play violent computer games, or watch violent TV programmes, before bed; they elevate levels of various stress hormones in the body, and put the brain into a hyper-stimulated state, and so are not conducive to a good night's sleep. But there are other less adrenalizing games that would not have this effect. And, as I said before, educationalists recognize that the best time to study is actually just before bedtime, when the brain is relaxed but still receptive to information, and when the knowledge acquired is still fresh in the mind for further processing during sleep, and unlikely to suffer from the interference of other thoughts before the sleep-processing cycle - all of which aids retention and recall. So doing study activities on a computer just before retiring can actually be one of the most effective ways to learn. And some TV programmes can be very relaxing and soothing, and thereby aid a good night's sleep.
[I do take issue with your assumption that a good parent who takes his/her role seriously must be a control freak but i put that down to your lack of maturity]
I didn't say that; I said it is good to be a serious parent, AS LONG AS one doesn't take one's responsibilities too far and become a control freak. Please read what I said, not what you want to THINK I said, and please - again - stop resorting to petty insults in an attempt to dismiss my arguments; THAT displays a lack of maturity, in fact.
[Thinking for oneself is hard work and needs self discipline and self awareness.]
I couldn't agree more - and you should try it.:o)
[you have not quite made it yet, you are still quite conditioned by reading your remarks and in the process of becoming an adult but you may be on the wrong path to knowing yourself really as you have a few hangups to over come.]
Once again, you resort to condescension and cheap insults. Try arguing with a degree of rationality and maturity yourself, eh? And if 'becoming an adult' means adopting your kind of inflexible, dogmatic mindset and attitudes, I would happily remain in what you seem to regard as my state of immaturity forever...
As for the 19th century, of course we are not living in an age whereby people were denied education mostly and only the rich and elite got it - we have great education in UK and that means private AND state - why do you think state schools are often under performing? Do you think it is because of the teachers? No way! It is the PARENTS of these kids, instead of teaching them values and giving them far reaching goals and being good parents to them, they indulge them in the media circus to keep them off their back , it is flabbergasting that you say that it is child cruellty to deny TV and the like in bedrooms, what kind of mad thinking is that? You are the type to say binge drinking is a teen right. There is a crisis in Uk right now with teen indulgence and you only have to walk in the high street of any town and see it. Shame on you
Private education might still be okay in this country, but most state education is appalling; it is producing a generation of ignorant idiots with 10-second attentions spans who can't spell, count, read a book or come up with a single original thought. I despair for the future of this country because of that.
[why do you think state schools are often under performing? Do you think it is because of the teachers? No way! It is the PARENTS of these kids, instead of teaching them values and giving them far reaching goals and being good parents to them, they indulge them in the media circus]
Actually, yes - I DO think some teachers are to blame; particularly those who work in faith schools, and try to insinuate ignorant religious superstition into every lesson - e.g. teaching Creationism in science lessons. But it is the fualt of the government that we have such schools, and such teachers, in the first place, of course. And don't blame parents for the poor quality of TV; blame the programme makers and TV companies for the relentless tide of superficial, mind-rotting dross on our TVs.
[it is flabbergasting that you say that it is child cruellty to deny TV and the like in bedrooms,]
I was being a little flippant, and exaggerating a tad, but there is nevertheless a kernel of truth in what I said. What matters is not whether there is a TV in a child's bedroom, but what they actually watch on it; if a child only wants to watch pap and dross on TV, then fine - remove it from his bedroom because it will only rot his brain; but would you deny a child a TV in his bedroom if he watched 2 hours of educational documentaries each evening before going to bed? (Which, incidentally, is the opitmum vieinwing time for maximum retention and recall.)
[You are the type to say binge drinking is a teen right.]
You seem to be intent on setting up straw men; when have I ever mentioned binge drinking? I have not. and, furthermore, I don't approve of it. So please stop attributing opinions to me that I do not hold, or you will only succeed in making yourself look very foolish.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1
More at www.newscientist.com (enter 'sleep' in search window).
A better solution is to encourage children to go to bed early and get up early.
As for going to bed early... that only works if you are actually tired and ready for sleep. And if you aren't still doing homework.
Scientific research has demonstrated that different people have different body clocks, and require diffferent amounts of sleep and different sleeping times. Yet we live in a society that thinks we are all the same, and enforces a 9-to-5 working-day sleep pattern on everyone (unless they are lucky to work flexi-time, and with the exception of shift-workers, of course). This is as stupid and irrational as it is unfair - and even cruel - to people whose body clocks don't fit into that pattern.
And all sleep experts say that you should not go to bed until you are tired. What if, like me, you are routinely wide-awake until 2am? What are we supposed to do - knock ourselves out with sleeping pills just so that we can get up at the same time as the 9-to-5ers?! Sod that!
We should resist the imposition of this tyranny of 'standard sleeping hours' (standard according to whom, and who gave them the right to decide on our behalf?). We are constantly told that we should embrace sexual and racial diversity and respect people as individuals. All I am calling for is an extension of that; we should embrace all the other kinds of diversity that human beings display, such as sleeping patterns, and we should live in a kinder, more accommodating culture that takes into account and makes allowances for these kinds of individuality, too.
Sometimes people think you gain an hour of work by giving up an hour of sleep. This is a complete myth! What if you get sick and lose a few days of work?