BBC have an article on how the lack of sleep affects children’s performance at school and they also included the chart above which shows Kuwait in 4th place when it comes to sleep deprivation for children aged 9-10. The blame is mostly on kids being on mobile phones and computers in bedrooms late at night. I can’t really relate since when I was in school we didn’t have smartphones. But, I can imagine if I did have one I’d probably be up late as well browsing the internet from under the sheets. Not sure though why Kuwait is that high on the list, I’m sure this must be the same with kids all over the world. [Link]
Thanks BuYousef and Matt
13 replies on “Kids need more sleep”
my kid (9 years) leaves home at 6.15 AM. The latest she can wake up is 5.30 and earliest she sleeps is 9. That gives around 8 hours sleep which is not sufficient for growing kids. Good night sleep for growing kids is 10-11 hours and 9-10 hours for teenagers..
One hour (each way) commute makes it compulsory for children in Kuwait to wake up early..
Our school hours are designed for when Kuwait was still made of mud houses and people had little to do.
Sunset was the time people go back home and sleep, then they wake up at dawn, go to work or school, and then come back home before noon when it gets hot.
Today life is different and I feel its difficult to expect someone to be at school (or work in my case) at 7:15 every morning.
Brother , I was lucky if i could sleep 4 hours when i was in school !!
Gameboy was invented in 1987, that used to keep me up at night 🙂
But yeah I’d imagine the timings have something to do with it, schools here start really early. I have a feeling whether school started at 7 or started at 9 kids would sleep at the same time at night.
When I drive home late at night, I still see kids, as young as 5-6 years old, wandering the streets. Quite often, my neighbour’s kids are up until midnight on school days. Perhaps this has something to do with it? Parent’s responsibility?
Not very surprising as you can see parents with kids till late night outside.There should be a certain regime for kids and a bed time. But it seems that no rules apply in here.
Give a kid a stupid mini ipad with no boundries at all and then try expecting something good from him.. Now that’s stupid!
When we were growing up we had set rules.PERIOD.
Back then a school week was 6 days and later on changed to a 2 day weekend.
I totally agree with those who have commented about parental responsibility.
Its got nothing to do with advancement in technology. I too grew up with advancements as they came on to the market. Atari, Nintendo, Game boy Play Station etc.. None of this was denied to us by my parents but my parents laid down the law when it it came to discipline regarding rules and schedules during school nights.
My siblings and I had a set time for Home work, set time to play , watch TV or what ever we want, set time for dinner and a set time for bed which for was lights out at 8 PM sleep or not.
Even if it was a your birthday and it was on a school night the same rules applied. Only diff was you had a birthday cake with special treats for dinner followed by an all night big party for family and friends on the following Thursday and you could wake up late on Friday.
Me and my wife set the the same rules and discipline with our kids today because it works and I am proud to say my kids are in the top 5 of their respective classes. Both my kids have I-pads, smart phones and access to the internet but we have taught them these are tools not toys and have to use them responsibly.
Neither of them thankfully are sleep deprived, are developing skills and learning naturally and both have very healthy social lives with their school friends. Even on weekends they have curfews and they know it is in their best interest to respect the curfew. In our house we just don’t ground you we take away all the perks if you break the rules. This includes no weekend out with the friends, no phones or computer privileges unless school related for the entire week. This may be harsh but in the end it works. Rules and regulations actually help your child and once they understand this its easy street from there.
Today’s kids don’t have rules or regulations. When I was growing up being up at midnight on a school night was unheard of. Today most parents just couldn’t be bothered with rules. They have maids to raise their kids and have a an attitude which closely represents looking at the world though rose tinted glasses. That is why kids today are sleep deprived and have no energy to learn or develop properly.
It’s all to do with the ‘siesta’ tradition of the afternoon- kids need at least ten hours uninterrupted sleep to be mentally agile- three hours in the afternoon and six at night doesn’t tick the box. with air conditioning and cars etc our modern lifestyle in Kuwait doesn’t require an afternoon siesta- there’s no reason why kids can’t get up at 6 am and STAY UP til they go to bed at 9 pm….
The schools starts way to early in Kuwait, it is really to early for a small child to leave home at 6,20 in the morning, to be in time for school at 7 and avoid traffic. Small kids has to go to bed at around 7pm and can hardly have any time with their parents coming home frome office. Neither can parents have much out of the evenings since we also have to rise early.
@ lahdiah.. you are absolutely correct. There isn’t a reason. My girls are up at 05.30 HRS and are up until 20.00 HRS every school night.
@ carolina . You make the time.. hiding behind the excuse that both parents are working and dont have time for the kids is just that an excuse.. I am home by 5.30 PM every day and always tired. But I make it a point to ask my kids how their day was or to help with their home work if they need it. My wife works shifts but that doesn’t stop her from making dinner when ever she has a chance and to involve the kids in daily mundane routine stuff like making dinner and doing house work. Its her way of interacting with the kids. And lets not forget we do have weekends. I make it a point to switch my mind off towards work and business on the weekends unless absolutely required. A routine email check at the early hours and I am done. After that I cater to what ever my 3 ladies ( wife & 2 daughters) want. So yeah no excuses. You make time, You take time to set up schedules and implement discipline. You make the time to sit with your children. No one gives it to you. You find it. You have 24 hours in a day to break down and to set up a routine. Dont blame school timings or heavy working hours if kids today run riot, lack discipline and end up sleep deprived or worse . Schools provide book education. Parents provide guidance on how to best use that education and most importantly moral guidance and the right tools to their kids to become proper self respecting and contributing members of society. Thats our responsibility as parents not the schools.
Schools starts way too early in Q8, period! Anytime between 8 & 9am is fine but for farks sake 7am is not OK not for kids nor for parents!
The States is the worst because the crappy standardized testing like the FCAT is used to know decide who bonuses for schools, school districts, administrators and teachers. This leads to sometimes months of lessons and gearing up for the tests in addition to the normal school workload. Even more stupid is that often times the standardized tests do not cover what is taught in class but something else.