Lack of Sleep Devastates the School Day

SKIPTON, England, February 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Lack of sleep among primary school children is having a devastating effect in schools with nine out of 10 teachers (92%) complaining that pupils are so tired they are unable to pay attention in class. More than a third (38%) said lack of sleep among youngsters is a daily problem for them.

Nearly nine out of 10 teachers (88%) felt that too many distractions in the bedroom (games machines, TVs etc) were at the root of the sleep related problems along with the fact parents are simply not strict enough about enforcing bedtimes (82%).

And more than half (55%) of those questioned agreed that the brightest children in the classroom are the best slept and most wide awake.

The poll of 250 primary school teachers was conducted for The Sleep Council which is launching its first ever 'sleep awareness' project in schools - "Better Brains with More Sleep" - as part of National Bed Month (March). It aims to teach primary school children the importance of a good night's sleep and the factors - such as regular bedtimes and a good bed - that can affect it.

"As part of our project we wanted to establish just how much of an issue lack of sleep has become among young school children," said Jessica Alexander of The Sleep Council. "Even we have been taken aback by the sheer scale of the problem."

It would seem lack of sleep has now become so widespread in primary schools that nearly a quarter (24%) of the teachers questioned admitted that they had had to resort to letting children who are very tired sleep in a corner of the classroom.

For two thirds of teachers (65%) the problem is so serious they consider that the long term progress of their pupils can be affected while nearly half (48%) said lack of sleep made children unruly and badly behaved.

Commenting on the survey results, Siôn Humphreys, Policy Advisor for the National Association of Headteachers said: "Schools cannot succeed without effective partnerships with the home. A tired and irritable child will not thrive, particularly in the active and pacey modern classroom. NAHT is particularly concerned about the still small but rising numbers of pupils who stay up late engaged in online gaming."