Parent's Corner!
 
Sleep and its effects on Behavior
      Elementary and middle school students have more learning and attention problems when they sleep eight hours or less at night, according to Brown Medical School and Bradley Hospital researchers.  Their study - the first to ask teachers to report on sleep restriction effects - points to the importance of sleep when assessing the causes of, and treatments for, learning difficulties in children.
    Reducing the amount of sleep students get at night has a direct impact on their performance at school during the day.  According to classroom teachers, elementary and middle school students who stay up late exhibit more learning and attention problems, Brown Medical School and Bradley Hospital research shows. 
    In the study, teachers were not told the amount of sleep students received when completing weekly performance reports.  Yet they rated students who'd received eight hours or less as having the most trouble recalling old material, learning new lessons, and completing high-quality work.  Teachers also reported that these students had more difficulty paying attention.
     The experiment is the first to ask teachers to report on the effects of sleep restriction in children.  "Just staying up late can cause increased academic difficulty and attention problems for otherwise healthy, well-functioning kids," said Gahan Fallone, the study's lead author.  "So the results provide professionals and parents with a clear message: When a child is having learning and attention problems, the issue of sleep has to be on the radar screen."
                                                                                           -  Information taken from Helping Hand Publication

Below you will find links to more information about symptoms of sleep deprivation in children, recommended hours of sleep for children, the effects on children's behavior, and causes for sleep loss.

1.  http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/sleep-better-better-behavior

2. http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Sleep_deprivation

3.  Book:  Sleepless in America: Is your child misbehaving . . . or missing sleep? by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

If you have any questions, or would like to visit with me more about sleep concerns for children, please email me at
Andrew.Fisher@k12.sd.us

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