Dr. Steve Bunce
How do you sleep at night? Why is sleep important?
Hvernig sefur þú á nóttunni?? Í fyrirlestrinum veltum við þessu fyrir okkur og spyrjum ‘Hvers vegna svefn sé mikilvægur?’ og skoðum það með 3 mismunandi linsum. Af hverju? Hvað svefn sé samkvæmt rannsóknum og hvernig við bætum hann.
Steve fer yfir ýmsar svefnrannsóknir, sýnir hvað nokkrir skólar hafa gert og leggur til leiðir um það hvernig við getum bætt svefn og frætt nemendur okkar um hann.
“Instead of 'How did you sleep last night?' we should ask 'Why did you sleep last night?'”
— Dr. Steve Bunce
Spurningar og svör af Sli.DO
Q1: How can we get teenagers to understand the importance of sleep? Since most of them don´t think they need sleep at all…
Great question. I am trying to find different ways to introduce sleep education to children, before they become teenagers, similar to them knowing about healthy eating and exercise. Then when they become teenagers, they should know what they should do, even though they may not do it.
Recently, I was very pleased the teenagers in my ‘SNORE’ science and engineering project in a Scottish school. They have been creating a sleep tracker. They have been investigating different devices, sensors and coding. However, the hidden benefit has been them learning all about sleep and how it can affect their mood and their ability to study. This purposeful, real-world project has really engaged them in sleep education.
Q2: Why not start school later?
Following on from Q1. We know that teenagers’ body clocks (circadian rhythms) shift to later in the day. So, they may not feel sleepy at the same time as the adults in their home. Also, they may not want to wake early, when the younger children and adults wake up.
During the lockdown in England, my teenage children literally climbed out of bed to join online lessons. These lessons started around 9 am, however, the teenagers would normally have been up around 6:45 am to get ready and travel to school. So, they benefited from extra sleep and a later waking time during lockdown.
A problem with starting school later are the parental work hours (if the children need transport to schools or need to be looked after, to allow a parent to travel to work). Also, as a society we look down on people who stay in bed later and call them ‘lazy’.
A school near my home tried to make the start time later. However, it did not last very long.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/mar/08/teenagers-sleep-education-secondary-school
Sadly, only a big societal change would adjust the school start times.
Q3: What is the best way to adjust different sleeping habits in couples?
Sleep is very complex and we are only beginning to understand it. To give yourself the best chance of sleep, you need a dark room, not too warm, it to be quiet and have a comfortable bed. However, if you share a bed with a partner, then you can disturb each other. You could have separate bedrooms with separate beds, but this is not always possible because of space and also, not very nice for the couple. If couples have different sleep routines, for example, different bedtime and waking times, then this can disturb their partner too.
A useful phrase is ‘It’s not a problem, unless it is a problem’. Meaning that couples could have different habits, but if that’s not a problem and they do not disturb each other, then there is no need to adjust their habits. If couples are disturbing each other then they could try different approaches.
Couples need to recognise their own sleeping habits and talk through their routines. In my life, my wife is a morning person and sets an early alarm and then snoozes it and then has the radio on. I am an evening person and this disturbs my sleep. We are trying to make compromises, but have not solved this problem yet!
The Sleep Therapy Comic is a good starting point for a conversation with a partner: https://www.therapycomics.com/_files/ugd/133724_6942228618894d6bb067b537732e0448.pdf
Sofðu vel 😴
Disclaimer: Each person and couple is different. I am not a medical doctor or clinician. Please seek medical advice if needed.
Hver er Dr. Steve Bunce?
Steve Bunce hefur verið kennari í yfir 25 ár sem hefur kennt á ýmsum skólastigum í Bretlandi. Hans helsta áhugamál er ásamt upplýsingatækni, mikilvægi svefns og að við leggjum meiri áherslu á fræðslu um hann í skólum. Kennsluaðferðir hans eru m.a. að nemendur búi sér til svefnmæla sem og aðferðir hönnunarhugsunar.
Steve hefur alltaf langað að heimsækja Ísland og er að reyna að læra íslensku, en til þessa er þekking hans aðeins á því að segja Halló, takk og bless.
Hlekkir úr fyrirlestri:
Sleep disturbances associated with increased risk of death, particularly in women: https://www.ajmc.com/view/sleep-disturbance-associated-with-increased-risk-of-death-particularly-in-women
Study: Later school start times aid sleep duration, quality for adolescents, teens: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/04/15/sleep-teens-school-start-study/2681618492332/
Portland high school and middle school students will have later start times next fall: https://www.pressherald.com/2021/05/20/portland-high-school-and-middle-school-students-getting-later-start-times/
Relearn Faster and Retain Longer: Along with practice, sleep makes perfect https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797616659930
Study Snapshot: Students enrolled in late-start-time districts report higher academic achievement and sleeping more : https://www.aera.net/Newsroom/Study-Snapshot-Students-Enrolled-in-Late-Start-Time-Districts-Report-Higher-Academic-Achievement-and-Sleeping-More
Link to ‘Sleep Science’ TED Talks: https://www.ted.com/series/sleeping_with_science
The Teen Hub from The Sleep Charity https://thesleepcharity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/The-Teen-Sleep-Hub-eBook.pdf
Therapy Comics - Sleep https://www.therapycomics.com/sleep
