Everyone knows that sleep is important for children. It facilitates growth and improves learning, memory and concentration. When kids don’t get enough of it they turn into cranky little monsters.

Even subtle deficiencies in sleep can have an impact on their education. A study out of the University of South Florida found that missing out on just 16 minutes of sleep reduced the concentration of participants the next day.. Meanwhile, a previous U.K. study in 2015 found a good night’s sleep doubled volunteer’s ability to remember words they’d learned the day before.

Some professors have started incentivizing sleep as a way to boost their students’ performance. Brain scientist Michael Scullin began bribing undergraduates with sleep credits if they got 8 hours of sleep each night during exam week. “I didn’t expect it, but they also scored about four points higher–before adding the extra credit–on their finals in my class,” he says. “That’s enough to go from a B+ to an A. Even I was surprised by the power of sleep!” *1

“Every aspect of brain health is related to sleep quality and quantity,” Scullin adds. “We even found in a recent study that people were less likely to forgive each other when they got six hours of sleep than when they got seven and a half or eight hours. When I see all of the impulsive, aggr*ssive, negative messages people send to one another, especially on social media, I have to wonder if lack of sleep isn’t part of the reason. Would we be more civil, more willing to listen as a society, if we got enough sleep?”

Parents needn’t take this information and get all uptight or turn into sleep N*zis. But it is important to make sure your regular schedules are allowing kids enough time for sleep. If your child is struggling in school or exhibiting difficult behavior, this could be part of the reason.

*Cure your families sleep problems with our Family Sleep Handbook

References:

1. S. Harrar, “How to build a better brain,”Readers Digest, Sept. 2020, pp. 60-72