- Sleepless in America
-
I'm not looking forward to school starting next week. That's because I never get enough sleep during the school year. I'm lucky to get six hours. My kids are not faring much better.
Although my 16 year old daughter should be getting 8.5-9.5 hours a night according to the National Sleep Foundation, she's getting 6-7 on a good night. A recent Case Western Reserve University study found that more than half of students sleep seven hours or less, and almost one in five get less than six hours. A University of Colorado survey of middle and high school students found that 82 percent said they woke up tired and un-refreshed.
Some scientist blame multi-tasking, use of electronic devices, caffeine, and biology. Others say that high schools start times force teenagers to get out of bed before their biological clocks are ready. Because of this, some high schools have been experimenting with later start times.
I personally like this idea. In my book, 7:04 is way too early to be catching the bus (and I know of many others who are picked up much earlier). Given that my daughter has an annoying habit of sleeping through her double alarm clock, I'm still getting up earlier than I need to or want to. Call me a helicopter parent, but one good thing about the mad dash to school when she misses the bus is that I get very, very awake. Trying to avoid crashing into all those sleep-starved parents and adolescents racing to the high school at the last minute is enough to scare me alert.
This year we have two kids getting off to school early. I've already informed my husband that he gets to join the party too. The more the merrier.
How much sleep does your family get? How do you balance the demands of your lives and the need for sleep?
Moms blogging on this site are all ladies working for Amway Global.
As a baby boomer mom of two millennial children, I live in a world where my children know more about technology than I do. I enjoy a love-hate relationship with technology ... although I strive to be on top of the latest trends, my favorite activities remain curling up with a good book or taking a long walk.
But I am insatiably curious about the role that technology plays in work, home and education. As a masters level Clinical Psychologist in a past life, I’m interested in how technology enhances life ... and how it can also make it more complex.
As a Performance Consultant in Training & Education, I am excited about contributing to the development of learning programs that will help Independent Business Owners make money selling products and build successful businesses. I’ve also spent many years in both Brand Management and Web Marketing, where I was part of several website launch teams. In my very first job at Amway way back in 1985, I traveled the country as a Health Trainer, leading workshops with Independent Business Owners on how to sell Nutrilite health products. Wow! Who knew I’d come full circle?
-More