BRUNSWICK SCHOOL
JANUARY 2012
MONTHLY MAILING A MESSAGE FROM THE HEADMASTER To Sleep, Perchance To Dream It is clear from an ever-growing body of knowledge that adequate sleep is a critically important factor in the health of all human beings. In fact, as important as regular and sound sleep is to adults, it is even more critically important to developing children. Children with inadequate sleep: ‐ learn less ‐ participate less ‐ remember less ‐ are grumpier ‐ are more susceptible to illness ‐ have unhealthy growth patterns According the National Sleep Foundation, Pre Schoolers should get 11-13 hours of sleep for every 24 hour period. Lower and Middle Schoolers should get 10-11 hours and Upper Schoolers should get 8-9 hours. According to a recent article in The New York Times by Jane E. Brody entitled “Zombie Prevention: Your Child’s Sleep” there is some measure of debate about these hourly requirements. For example, a Stanford University study says that Middle Schoolers need only about 8 hours a night. What no one seems to debate, however, is that developing children need more sleep than adults and, especially for Upper Schoolers, sleep patterns of teen agers don’t easily mesh with the norms of society. The author of the article points out that “the typical teenager does not fall asleep readily before 11pm or later, yet many have to get up by 6am or earlier to get to school . . . in one study, more than 90 percent of teenagers reported sleeping less than nine hours a night and 10 percent said they slept less than six hours.” If you do the math, if the average Brunswick student needs 45 minutes to get up, shower and get dressed, grab something to eat and get to school (depending, of course, on relative distance to school), that means he has to be awake no later than 7am each morning. If he is getting nine hours of sleep, then he would have to be in bed, asleep no later than 10pm the night before. The key here is acknowledging the importance of sleep and putting in place some guidelines both at home and at school that can help to make the achieving of a full night’s rest possible. Consider the following: At home: ‐ set a regular bedtime and stick to it with rare exceptions ‐ for Middle and Upper School students, urge your son to turn off any/all laptops and Blackberry/iPhones at least 30 minutes before bedtime ‐ limit late night activities (out of school athletic practices/games, concerts, etc.) At school: ‐ we encourage boys to make use of portions of the school day to get homework done so that they don’t have it all to do when they get home ‐ we start our Pre, Lower and Middle School days as late as possible so that our boys can get a full night’s rest ‐ we limit after school/early evening events so that students can return home after sports ‐ in the Upper School (where the day starts earlier), we provide morning snacks so that boys can get breakfast at school if they missed it at home ‐ during the winter in the Upper School, we have “sleep-in” Thursdays which allow students to catch some extra sleep. So, as we start the first month of 2012, maybe more than any New Year’s resolution we can make to support our sons and ensure their success in school and their health and happiness throughout the year, the best thing we can do is ensure that they get their sleep. Here’s to our well-rested Bruins.