Family Time -- Steve Smith

When the class-size reduction movement was legitimized a few years ago

by spending money to hire more teachers and build more classrooms, I

pooh-poohed the concept, stating that the only way substantial long-term

improvements in a child’s academic performance would be achieved was

through greater parental involvement.

But now that the ax is falling on class-size reduction programs around

the state, I am sorry to see them go. That’s because while I still

believe that parental involvement is the key, most parents just cannot

seem to turn off the TV or work less or do with less or do whatever it

takes to sit each night and help with homework or set other examples. So

for the children of those parents, I want class-size reduction. Without

it, we are once again making kids pay for the poor judgment of adults.

The reduction in the number of class-size reduction programs does not

have to be the end of our experimentation with helping students achieve.

For any district facing class-size reduction cuts, there are alternative

ways to increase grades and test scores. Some of them, I admit, are

radical -- that is, they don’t cost any money to implement:

One way is to turn off the TV. OK, so this is an obvious one. But I’ve

spent too much time and seen too many success stories to ever want to

stop my ranting about the no-TV advantage for kids. Recently, I

interviewed Eastbluff Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Laura Holmes

for a magazine story. She has a very simple no-TV program that she

organizes once a year. Thirty minutes with Holmes will convince even a TV

producer that this program should be districtwide.

There is another no-cost way to help kids get higher test scores,

better grades and get them to have a better disposition during the day.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. All parents have to do is get their

kids to bed earlier. I became aware of this problem, which is bordering

on a national epidemic, when I recently did some work for a sleep

disorder center in the Midwest.

According to a recent study conducted by the National Sleep

Foundation, American adults get an average of one hour less sleep per

night than the recommended eight hours, and then try to make up for the

sleep deficit on the weekend. Unfortunately, that ploy doesn’t work.

About 40% of adults are so sleep-deprived during the work day that it

interferes with their daily activities.

Adults seem to be passing on this bad habit to their kids. A recent

study conducted at Brown University on teenage sleep habits shows that

teenagers are often tired because of their inability to fall asleep

early.

The Brown University study asserts that the levels of the hormone

melatonin -- produced by the pineal gland to regulate the body’s sleep

cycle -- rise during the evening and abate during the morning. In teens,

melatonin is not produced until late at night, so they do not fall asleep

early enough because they do not feel the symptoms of sleepiness. Other

factors can cause sleep deprivation in teenagers, including television,

school sports, extracurricular activities, school work and after-school

jobs.

The average amount of sleep a teenager needs is 9 1/5 hours. Studies

indicate that 26% of students receive about 6 1/2 hours on average. A

study conducted in Rhode Island showed that 85% of students who were

chronically sleep deprived developed a sleep deficit in which their

bodies cannot function with consecutive sleep deprivation. This is a

problem because it is not only a threat to a teenager’s health, but it

also affects the student’s academic performance. Johns Hopkins University

showed that students who were deprived of sleep received lower grades in

their schoolwork than those who received more sleep.

Depriving the body of adequate sleep night after night has a profound

effect on a child’s growth and development. One of the common

misconceptions about sleep is that the body is “at rest,” but just the

opposite is true. While kids are sleeping, the body is producing and

replenishing the key hormones and other chemicals that promote growth and

a stronger immune system. It is during the night that the mind becomes a

file cabinet (that’s a hard drive to all you computerphiles) where

memories are processed and stored. So teachers, if you want your students

to do a better job remembering what you taught them the day before, all

you may have to do is help them get more sleep.

The end of class-size reduction may not yet be a reality in our

district, but that should not stop the school board, administrators and

teachers from emphasizing these no-cost ways to help our students.

A little more sleep would probably help Mom and Dad too.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.