Enough Sleep

Yawn! Are you getting enough sleep? There are experts who don’t think you are. The average bedtime for most children today is much later than it used to be. Years ago, children used to go to bed by 7:30 P.M. Today, children are lucky to get in bed by 9:00 P.M. There are many reasons why experts believe this is the case.

One of the reasons is because children are involved in too many activities. Children have the opportunity to be involved in soccer, ballet, basketball, ceramics, Girl Scouts, football, piano, and more. There is no end to the number of activities in which children can become involved. This means that as soon as school is out, many children are expected to attend practices. By the time children get home, they get a quick bite of dinner to eat. After dinner, there needs to be time set aside to complete homework. Most children want to watch some television before they take a bath or shower and get to bed.

Another reason children aren’t sleeping as much is because more and more families have both parents working. By the time parents get home, they have a lot of work to do. They need to get dinner going. They need to run children here and there. And they need to help children with homework.

Families need to cut back. Children need to be involved in fewer activities. Parents need to come up with a better schedule for the family. Children need more sleep!