Sleepless Posterity And The Die-hard Rules, Are Our Kids Being Pushed To Mental Illness

By D N Singh

Now it is a common sight in Indian schools at the elementary level that, young children have to leave their beds at an early hour like, say 5 am in order to make up for the classes which usually starts at 7 to 7.30 am.

Bleary eyed they get up, unwillingly forced in for the refreshing and unwillingly as well, take some bites of breakfast and rush for the transport piggybacking a school bag full with books and copies.

What happens that normally going to the bed at little late like 11 pm and out of the bed at 5 am, obviously it leaves the school age children with much less than nine hours of sleep. So, it is hardly a five to six hours sleep which can be best described as sleep deprivation leading to many complications.

Serious Thoughts Needed

Although there had gone serious thoughts into such a disorder in sleep by the experts in John Hopkins University that how mental and physical impacts take root from sleeplessness for the kids at the elementary level.

There had been suggestions in the recent past that, why not changing the school timings from 7.30 am to 9 am. So, in majority parts in developed countries the timings have been changed so that, a child completes his or her required quota of sleep at least for 9 hours.

Whereas, quite in contrast, in some countries including in India, the schools at the elementary level adhere to the old pattern of early school hours. Where the children fall target to several sleep deprivation related complications.

According to a new study, published in a journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health  less than 12 to 9 hours sleep have started showing serious impact on memory, intelligence and well-being.

 Are We Heading Against Childrens’ Wellness?

Thus the differences relatable with greater mental health problems, like depression, anxiety, and impulsive behaviours, in those who lacked sleep. Inadequate sleep was also linked to cognitive difficulties with memory, problem solving and decision making.

It was a great revelation by the University of Maryland, where about 8,300 children in the age group of 8 to ten years, and what came out, “we found that children who had insufficient sleep, less than nine hours per night, at the beginning of the study had less gray matter or smaller volume in certain areas of the brain responsible for attention, memory and inhibition control compared to those with healthy sleep habits,” said Ze Wang, Professor of Diagnostic.

Indian Schools Must Rethink

Many researchers, including in India, are unanimous that the parents promote good sleep habits in their children by making sufficient sleep a family priority, sticking with a regular sleep routine.

Cutting across natures of elementary educational institutions, for example in Bhubaneswar, private or government, uniformly the school hours are from 7 am and that is for the reasons best known to the harbingers that, no change is being deemed as necessary.