It is said that, “ang taong palatulog, ay hindi mapupulot, ginto man ang mahulog.” In order not to be faulted for being indolent, parents refrain from questioning schools why their weary children have to wake up at dawn to go to school and return home in the afternoon with tons of homework which hassles the child. The Dep Ed and private schools seem unsympathetic to the plight of millions of sleep deprived schoolchildren who all agonize from the negative effects of lack of sleep throughout the school year.

Sleep is essential for our wellbeing. For adults, it takes 7-9 hours of sleep every night so that the body and brain can be rejuvenated, refreshed and reach peak alertness upon waking. Fasting from food and drink for several days can have affirmative effects on the body, but staying awake for 48 to 72 hours produce undesirable effects on the mind and body. Sleep deprivation impairs your ability to fully concentrate on a task, think clearly, and process memories. Lack of sleep makes a person irritable; it weakens a person’s immune system; and depression can set in. No wonder John F. Kennedy has the habit of having afternoon “power naps” and Spaniards have this culture of closing shop midday to take a siesta.

Sleep is vital in children and teenagers that need more hours of sleep than adults. Based on a chart prepared by Children’s Hospital Colorado, eight hours of sleep is not enough for a growing child:

“Adequate sleep time changes with age. The following is a typical amount of sleep that children need in 24 hours: Infants (4 – 12 months): 12 -16 hours (including naps) Toddlers (1 – 2 years): 11-14 hours (including naps); Preschoolers (3- 5 years): 10 -13 hours (including naps); School-age children (6-12 years): 9 -12 hours; Youth (13-18 years): 8-10 hours.”

The need for sleep explains why we see on Tiktok and FB school children in China, Japan and Finland have naptime right inside the classroom. I surmise that the objective of this practice is to inculcate in children the importance of sleep in human beings and to reenergize the kids before dismissal time.

In International law, sleep deprivation of prisoners over an extended period is considered a method of torture and is prohibited by the UN Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or other degrading treatment or punishment. It appears that we have in the Philippines state sponsored sleep deprivation of schoolchildren for an extended period.

Students in our country lack sleep because of the school hours and the schoolwork for the entire 203 days or 10 months of a school year cycle. Classes start as early as 6 am and usually ends around 4 pm. Class hours would be modified if the school has three shifts. Aside from doing homework, students contend with helping out with household chores, enjoy the various distractions from sports activities and in their mobile devices. If they belong to the first shift in a three-shift school, kids need to wake up at dawn and prepare for school for the entire school year. Aside from lack of sleep, students from poor families also struggle with hunger.

Having enough sleep is the foundation of Benjamin Franklin’s “early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise.” In this modern time, going to bed early is not the norm. Doing homework is laborious and time consuming. Students are forced to burn the midnight oil and constrained to just a few hours of sleep before starting the new day at dawn to avoid morning traffic rush. As a result, students find it difficult to focus on the lesson, be an active reader, and retain what the teacher instructs. Many of them cannot help falling asleep in class. Sleep deprived children are exposed to a higher risk for behavioral problems such as depression, are prone to vices such as drugs, and health problems. Based on research, the correlation between lack of sleep and a child’s academic performance is strong.

Sleep is essential for children’s well-being and development. Schools must recognize the fact that their practices scrunch the sleeping hours of their students causing them torment. We reiterate the suggestion that schools tweak the start of classes from 8 am – 2 pm, and inject power naps of at least 15 minutes each school day. By starting at a later hour, students get more time for sleep and pave the way for their grades to improve, using their first language. Wake up from your slumber, Dep Ed!!!