What Makes “Back to School” go More Smoothly?

The dreaded words for so many children and teenagers, BACK TO SCHOOL are everywhere. Advertisements, billboards and notices all over town remind us to prepare. Clinics arm themselves for the stampede of families swarming in for their last-minute physicals, vision exams, and immunizations. And we can’t forget the administrators and educators who are winding up before the pitch with open houses, lesson planning, and perfecting their classrooms for a new year.

I’m among them, in my 20th year at my current school district, once again psyching myself up for brand new experiences. As a unified group of students, families, and coworkers, we will learn and grow together. Besides touting my love for my career in education, I’d like to point out common challenges that occur this time of year for many and at some point, for all humans.

It just so happens that the shift from less routine and structure to days packed with every hour planned with specific activities that require concentration is an annual event in most cultures. In fact, it sounds like a huge experiment in human behavior. It’s common knowledge that children with stimulating environments and scheduled activities throughout the summer fare well when the great shift begins while those with fewer demands on their time and attention spans that are limited to more preferred tasks may struggle.

One critical factor every one of us can remember during this natural “experiment” is how important it is to guard the quality and quantity of our sleep. As adults, we have a responsibility to take care of ourselves so we can live up to our potential, not to mention help those in our care. Just ask a new parent how critical uninterrupted sleep is and they can attest to that new parent fog that lingers.

Every year I always hear, see, and feel for myself the drain in energy faced by adults and children alike when an immediate switch to sustained attention for a prolonged period is required. Our brains use a huge amount of energy daily under typical conditions. When we demand more, we need to give our body/mind more TLC to keep our performance in that acceptable range. If you expect your body to keep up with a physically demanding sport or healthy movement daily, that’s another demand. Then on top of that, add a little stress and anxiety to the load if it applies and what do we have? – a huge need for high quality and sufficient quantity of sleep.

According to Dr. Alex Dimitriu of Psychology Today, our brains require a minimum of 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Those who are still growing need more like 9 to 10 hours of good sleep. The reason for those recommendations makes good sense. The cycles of sleep that evolve throughout the night are critical to cleansing or detoxing our brains and neurological system to keep us functioning. The stress we experience needs to be filtered through sleep, sort of like a food processor that flushes out the toxins and unwanted parts to leave us with a refreshing start to each day and a healthy brain. The information we learn and experiences we gain throughout our day are processed through the full sleep cycles in order to help us remember what’s needed over time.

If we interrupt or shortchange those cycles, we risk a buildup of toxins, less healing of our delicate brain matter, and make it harder to remember and process our memories.  Dr. Dimitriu says, “Quality sleep is essential for stopping negative thought loops.” Our behavior is directly tied to the quantity and quality of our sleep, which ultimately comes down to the need to guard it carefully. Children with inadequate sleep are more likely to experience difficulty with attention, emotional regulation, and memory. Just like adults.

The bottom line is; when your schedule is demanding, changes, or life has you running like a wild turkey, make sleep a top priority. When you feel tired, give your body and mind what it needs. Give yourself a little quiet time during the day so you won’t have an avalanche of thoughts during the night. Keep to a sleep friendly routine and require the same of children and teens in your care. Just ask any teacher you know how many of their students are awake at night playing video games and how they learn and behave at school. Adults don’t always do what’s best for themselves and those still growing certainly need our help setting healthy boundaries with electronics and other interruptions to their rest.

I encourage you to strive for a positive and healthy school year by taking care of your most important commodity, your wonderfully designed brain and body.  Sweet dreams!