"According to Dr. Ronald Bryan, M.D., neurologist at Fort Sanders Parkwest Medical Center’s Sleep Lab, most children (preschoolers through adolescents) require 10-12 hours of sleep per night.  Less sleep can create concentration and behavioral problems....Sleep-deprived children often do not complain of being sleepy.  Instead, they show their sleep problems through mood and behavioral changes, attention problems, and perhaps poorer performance in school."

For more information on sleep deprivation: www.fsparkwest.com

When I was in college I did a term paper on sleep (not while I was asleep...on the subject of sleep).  I was intrigued as I discovered many reasons why our bodies need sleep.  When my children were young that information proved valuable to their growth and development...because I made sure they had the hours of sleep they needed.

Recently I taught first grade in a Christian school.  It was a vast learning experience for me for I had never taught the lower grades.  I learned so much about what children know today...and what they should not know.  I was reminded of the truths of the term paper I had written in college when I faced a class of sleep deprived children each day.  Out of a class of fourteen only two had a regular bed time...the two that were alert, amiable, and did very well in class---easily making good grades.  Everything I have put in this article concerning children without adequate sleep I found true for that first grade class.

A few weeks ago I got on the internet and searched out reports on sleep to refresh my memory and to update me on recent findings.  Like I was in college, I was again intrigued with the information I read.

First, let us remember that God made our bodies to require sleep.  Even Jesus required sleep while on earth. In His Word God refers to sleep 89 times, slumber 16 times, and dreams 84 times. Sleep is important to our bodies and our well being.

Psalm 4: 7-8  "Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."

Luke 8:23 "But as they sailed he (Jesus)  fell asleep:"

In my recent research I was reminded that the problem of sleep deprivation is well documented from the cradle to the grave.  I am not going to go into a lengthy dissertation but I encourage you to check out some of the links I will give you in this article.

Sleep for health:

Every article I read agreed there is no scientific explanation for why we need to sleep, but all agreed it is known our bodies only heal when we sleep.  The sleep that heals is called Delta sleep and our bodies heal and repair in this stage of sleep.  Sometimes during illness our body may fall immediately into Delta sleep because infection fighting antibodies are produced in greater numbers in this sleep stage.

During Delta sleep many neurotransmitters are restored.  Neurotransmitters are the vehicles that carry information back and forth between your body and mind.  These "information superhighways" enable us to repeat appropriate and predictable actions---informing muscles constantly about what they are doing so their actions can be modified. Two of the conditions most frequently misdiagnosed because of lack of sleep are mentioned in the next paragraph.

Researchers at the University of Toronto Center for Sleep and Chronobiology are uncovering important insights about how sleep heals.  Dr. Harvey Moldofsky and his colleagues studied the natural rhythm of sleep by interrupting the sleep of a group of medical students.  Over several nights, each time the students entered a deep-sleep phase, called the Delta phase, the researchers would interfere.  After a few nights of these disruptions, the students developed the classic symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. 

Dr. Moldofsky conducted another study on how the immune system reacts to sleep deprivation.  Researchers examined natural killer cells---a component of the immune system that attacks bacteria, viruses and tumors.  Depriving healthy men of four hours of sleep for one night caused the activity of the natural killer cells to decrease by more than one-fourth the next day.

Are Students Sleep Deprived?

Education World recently talked with two experts about the effects of sleep deprivation on elementary school students.

Studies show that 85% of children in kindergarten through fourth grade are not meeting their nightly sleep requirements says James B. Maas.  Maas is a professor at Cornell University and the author of two books about sleep:

"Power Sleep"-- for adults

"Brain Train: Traveling Through. the Land of Good Sleep"---for children

"Kids tell me that they fall asleep on the bus, and teachers say that they have to send kids to the nurse’s office to nap. Said Maas."

Dr. Carl Hunt, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, a component of the National Institutes of Health, agrees.  "We know from talking with teachers that children are sleepy in the classroom and that this is a significant problem," he told Education World.

Both Hunt and Maas said that elementary school children require at least nine hours of sleep a night to be well rested, and some need even more.  Both experts agreed that families are not going to be as early as they need to.  Parents who are staying up late to get everything done, often keep their children up too late as well.

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