• Question: what can schools do to help our sleep?

    Asked by anon-188901 to Rachel on 5 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Rachel Sharman

      Rachel Sharman answered on 5 Nov 2018:


      Hi,

      What a great question!

      Its quite difficult to give a one fit for all answer to your question. There simply isnt enough data out there on students sleep to decide what would be best.
      We actually based our choice on delaying school start times to 10am on data from the USA where they start school at 7am!

      I think the key thing schools need to do is ask their students about their sleep! Get the data on their pupils and then speak to us scientists on what to do. It could be that tweaking the bus schedule a little would give students more time in the morning in bed rather than waiting outside school really early.

      I do think sleep education and mental wellbeing should be taught more in schools. Sleep is this amazing thing we spend a third of our life doing that is essential for everything yet no one really says how to make your sleep the best it can be. I suffer insomnia sometimes and I know its the absolute worst feeling being awake when everyone is asleep, I now know that for me, personally, relaxation breathing can calm me down and help me drift off. I also know that, although I will feel rubbish the next day, one night of poor sleep doesnt mean I wont sleep again and just to relax as Im pretty likely to sleep the next night. These are the sort of things we teach in our sleep education lessons and I think its a really important skill for teenagers to have especially those that may be struggling to sleep or are about to have the pressures of exams!

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