A friend of mine emailed me a recent article from the Globe and Mail called Children’s bed times getting later – and later. The article claims that research has identified a major sleep crisis: later bed times and less sleep for kids which equals developmental and behavioural issues. I have to say, I take issue with this issue. Is everything really a crisis? I am not disputing the facts but it did make me think.
First of all, the article makes reference to a family whose 6 year old struggles to go to bed before 9:30pm because of the TV and video games in his room. I was reading this and trying to think if I knew of one family with a child under the age of 14 with either a TV or video games in his or her bedroom! I’m not sure this is a fair representation of most households.
The article then refers to the alarming change in bed times from the 1970s to the 1990s. A whopping 21 minutes difference in the time kids go to bed! A crisis for sure!
I am not denying that bedtimes might be getting later. I remember when I was a kid and my bedtime was 8pm sharp for years. Lights out, no questions, at 8pm sharp. However, how many nights, especially as I got older, did I spend at least a few minutes chatting with my sister or playing some crazy, made-up game with our brown and orange zoo animal wallpaper (yes, I know, but it was the 70s)? I would say most.
As I got older and my bedtime didn’t change, I would stay up reading. My bedtime was 8pm but I certainly wasn’t sound asleep at 8. To be honest, it could have been 9:30pm for all I knew because I didn’t have a clock in my room until the clock radio "craze" of ’82! Before that, digital clocks were a new fangled thing and I likely couldn’t tell time on a standard clock.
As a family, we are definitely busier now in the evenings than when I was a kid but, unlike the article’s inference to manic overscheduling and a parent’s inability to enforce rules, we actually play with our kids. A few nights a week we have a scheduled activity like swimming lessons or soccer but usually we go skating, go to the park, or play in the backyard. We might read books or watch a movie too. This is our time as a family. That must have its benefits?
The media’s attachment to portraying families in this constant state of frenzy is starting to get to me. The representation of parents unable to control their kids or exert any kind of authority is irritating and certainly doesn’t ring true for most families I know.
The article refers to a crisis leading to increased risk of illness and accidents as well as behavioural and cognitive development issues. Parents beware…there is now something else to worry about. One of the experts even goes as far as to say "A child who’s being inattentive and is riding his bike is a target for that big black Mercedes". Now later bed times lead to death?
I don’t doubt that there are some kids who go to bed way too late and don’t get enough sleep. I also don’t doubt that at least sometimes most parents could do a better job of enforcing bed times…I know I could. However, I wonder whether this is a bit of a Mountain out of a Molehill.
At the very bottom of the article, two small sentences state that a leading expert believes that there is actually no problem. That sleep shortages have been an issue for years, we are just becoming more aware of it.
So, is this really a crisis after all?!
Crisis is probably too strong a word, but I believe this is a very significant problem. Sure you can say that 20 minutes is no big deal, but if we guestimate that say 50% of kids don’t have a later bedtime at all ( as suggested by the parents posting here) then the other kids are getting 40 minutes less on average – some less and some more – that’s significant.
It becomes even more important when you consider what’s happening in the mornings. When I was a kid you crawled out of bed at 8:30 to be at school for nine. A large percentage of kids today need to get up much earlier to be dropped off at daycare or before-school programs.
Later to bed and earlier to rise is not a good combo for our children.
Crisis? Well, I’d say that the crisis here is exactly what the author of the article mentions as being a norm – having a TV or video game in a child’s room. This, to me, seems to be the crisis and not the 21 minutes later kids are going to bed at.
I have two young children and neither of them have access to our TV/DVD and video games outside the living room. We have a common space where eveyone can share these electronics. This is where we spend our family time together and watch TV together.
I, too, believe that the author of this article is making a mountain out of a molehill. There are so many other things that we could change for the better as parents of the “hurry-up” era, I don’t believe 21 minutes of sleep ranks as part of our “fix-it” list for things to worry about.
I think that it really isn’t later bedtimes that constitute the crisis – if there is a crisis, it would have more to do with inattentive parents letting children set their own schedules or over-attentive parents scheduling their children to the point of exhaustion. Absent these larger issues, what’s the problem if some kids go to bed 21 minutes later?
I agree with each of you. “Crisis” is a harsh word. I would tie it to food shortages, weather issues or pandemics, not sleep times. Although I see a lot of kids sleeping less and then it is reflected in their activity levels as well in their schooling.
I am a mom two three boys grade 2, grade 1 and 2.5. All are very athletic and love spending time outdoors running and playing sports rollerblading or riding their bikes, even in the winter they only come in when they are thuroughly cold. For them I know that sleep is as important as the food on the table. I watch them carefully and try to discern when it is the best time for them to turn out the lights.
My oldest is not a morning person and my second is up with the sun. They share a room so it is a bit of a challenge for me. I try to maintain a bedtime ritual, with some space for change. They are in their beds around 8pm and can read until 8:30, we have installed lamps on the ir bunks so they can control on their own when they turn out the lights. We don’t have any distractions in their room either, all of the toys remain in the basement and they don’t have a tv or radio. I have learned to use natural consquences with them as well and taking away privilages.
Its hardest during the summer though, when the neighbourhood kids are outside until 10pm or later and my kids are in bed at 9pm (our summer bedtime), but the other kids don’t get up at 8am and go all day like mine do. I think if the kids are kept physically and mentally challenged throughout the day bed time is actually easier on me.
I do however find that my husband is often my biggest obsticle. He’ll come home late from work and then get the boys woundup and I understand he needs his time with them too, he does work fulltime as well as has a dj business that keep him away often on the weekends, but kids thrive on regularity.
I was lazier about bedtime before, often letting them stay up later, but then I realized that they couldn’t possibly be getting close to 11 hours of sleep, which is what has been the most common recomendation for kids their age. So I have made a shift, and they seem to be OK with it.
I also think that it is too bad that the North American culture doesn’t value, what so many other cultures value, siestas or afternoon quiet time. My husband remebers and still enjoys taking an afternoon nap. I think children and especially teens could benifit from a nap mid-day.
I think as a whole society it is too bad that we are in such a hurry and have such a need to push our families. I see them as kids, and they are only little for a little while, and now is the time to teach them the habits that they will carry a life time.
I don’t believe this is a crisis. It certainly does not represent the average family. As a mom, I am adamant about bedtime being no later than 8:30. This includes brushing teeth and reading bedtime stories. I do agree that children need proper rest and parents should be more cognitive of this fact. That said, there are times when we have late nights here or there, but nothing to be alarmed about or labeled as “crisis”.
I must admit i see quite a few problems with the child raising these days,as a daycare provider i see a lot!I was wondering this morning if the lack of discipline for kids these days is what is creating generations of adults that don’t have any practical life skills,they don’t learn to cook or sew or fix things at their parents knee like they used to.I find a lot of parenting these days is actually us parents being rather selfish ,we keep them up for “quality time”more for ourselves in our busy lifes than for the kids. We buy them toys to compensate for the time we have to spend at work,then they continue the cycle when they have kids.
While I felt much the same way you did when I read this article that the word crisis seems to be a bit strong,I would agree that the current situation of ‘bedtime’ in many families is not exactly healthy for kids. We have friends/relatives that have children in grade 1 going to bed at 9:30 at nite – I think way too late for a 6 year old. We do know a few people with TV/DVD in their kids bedrooms – much easier to send them off and enable them to access their video games at all hours of the day. Not healthy on so many levels. However, to call this a crisis is a bit much. Kids that are active or engaged in healthy family activities would have to benefit over the long run, the ones parked in front of the TV set are likely heading for some kind of crisis – TV content in the evenings is questionable for adult audiences. I’ve read several studies indicating that sleep deprivation does have a cognitive effect on children and going to bed late does lead to sleep deprivation in the long run. In some ways it comes down to training – children can be taught to sleep well in much the same way we teach them to talk and walk yet it seems so many people just assume the sleep habits their children are born with are the ones they are meant to have.