Sleep is Essential

By Emory Jordan, age 11

The recommended sleep time for a school-aged child (ages 6-13 years old) is 9-12 hours, but most kids do not get nearly that. Sleep can be helpful, restorative, and peaceful. It is a time to relax and let your body and brain recharge to get you ready to face the challenges of the next day.  It is important to avoid is under sleeping. The National Institute of Health researchers have an ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study that has found that children who get less than 9 hours of sleep had “more mental health and behavioral challenges… including impulsivity, stress, depression, anxiety, aggressive behavior and thinking problems”. Their research showed that the kids with less sleep also had less “grey matter or smaller volume in certain areas of the brain responsible for attention, memory, and inhibition control, compared to those with healthy sleep habits” (nih.gov).  For kids to get enough sleep, the bedtime to aim for is from 8:00-9:00 pm and wake-up time around 6:00-8:00 am. Unfortunately, many parents and kids ignore because they are so busy, spend time on screens, or think ‘it’s cool’ to stay up late. Also, kids who do not get exercise of outside time during the day could find it difficult to get to sleep, so it is important to stay active. I personally find that reading a book in bed helps me relax and fall to sleep. If you or your child has sleep issues it is worth focusing on because lack of sleep can lead to problems with school, family, and friends.