Why We Sleep

Recently, I have been working on a Health Advocacy project with Sophomore Kinetic Wellness Health classes and I was looking at several related and newly published books. 

We began the project talking about sleep and its importance, especially for teens. In fact, we watched a TedTalk by Russell Foster and developed some amazing posters related to sleep. Both that talk and the newly published WHY WE SLEEP by Matthew Walker delve into some rather technical aspects of sleep and point out how complex and important it is.  Walker, for example, notes that “sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions.” In a chapter devoted to “What’s stopping you from sleeping,” Walker cites a number of factors, including light (both electric and LED), more regulated temperatures, caffeine, alcohol, and industrial era work schedules. Reading this (sometimes scary) book has made me more conscious of my own sleep patterns. WHY WE SLEEP is full of details and statistics, although I do wish it was written a bit more simply so as to be more engaging for our students. Library Journal gave it a starred review, calling it “of particular interest to [adults, specifically] business owners, educators, parents, and government officials, and anyone who has ever suffered from a poor night's sleep.”

That text’s reference to LED light and the use of devices like the iPad, connects to another area of interest to our students, technology, and a new book titled SCREEN SCHOOLED by Joe Clement and Matt Miles. These veteran teachers are concerned about “the overuse of screen time and why this is bad for kids.” They say when it comes to technology in the classroom, we should be asking: (1) Does the tech simplify instruction? (2) Is it easily accessible for all students? and (3) Does it support, rather than replace, instruction? They acknowledge that there is a place for technology in education, but question the times when there is too much emphasis on it, rather than on content or skills being taught. Specifically, they worry about kids spending too much time passively consuming media on their screen-based devices.  I respect their view, but also wish that they could have had a chance to see our students use both iPads and laptops to develop presentations and infographics that discuss critical adolescent health concerns like binge drinking, sexual activity and nutrition.  Reviewing the comments from the students revealed how proud they were of their hard work (including time spent outside of class), the collaborative research they had done, and “being able to help people that may be struggling.” SCREEN SCHOOLED would likely be more effective in promoting change if the argument made was more balanced and included more research findings.

For their presentations, students chose topics of interest to them and many focused on struggles with depression and anxiety so I was definitely intrigued by two other new books: THE HAPPINESS DIET by Rachel Kelly and ALTERED TRAITS by Daniel Goleman.