SLEEP, THE FIRST TO GO!

Neil Humphreys’ article (“Ah, those short wonder years”) featured on 29 July 2007 struck a chord with me. In particular, the line “But you cannot buy back a childhood” summoned a sense of regret as I looked back on my ‘not-so-wonder’ years. I hate to admit it but I was an honorary member of the ‘Go-home society’, where student life was relegated simply to studying non-stop, and social life and fun were nil.

As the load they have to bear on their shoulders grows, our students struggle to prioritise between increasing demands, against the backdrop of an unchanging 24 hours per day. At a young age, they are being compelled to perfect this balancing act, which is not a bad thing I suppose. It does gear them for the future. However, sadly speaking, many of them are unable to achieve that healthy equilibrium, and some end up failing at a costly price.

A recent Teen Sleep Survey conducted locally this year showed that our teenagers were not getting sufficient sleep. Eighty per cent of students polled slept for less than eight hours on school days, and a whooping 66.5 per cent were up late doing homework or studying. Given the insidious effects of sleep deprivation on growth and intellectual functioning, this should sound an alarm. With numerous obligations to fulfil, it is not surprising that sleep is often the first sacred cow to be sacrificed in a mad rush for time.

Rising stress is a reality we cannot escape today. Hence, teaching and helping our students prioritise becomes imperative. Long term consequences such as poor mental health and life dissatisfaction are often neglected in the pursuit of short-term goals like a report card with straight ‘A’s. Parents and educators need to be aware that they sometimes can become transmitters of unhealthy or rigid expectations. Poor sleep compounded by high expectations imposed on oneself, can actually form a fertile ground for the development of depressive disorders. Perhaps that is why more people are having Depression and sleep problems nowadays. This is something for us to mull over.