John Peever is an assistant Professor in the department of Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Toronto.
Peever tells Beach News it’s important to start getting students back into their school routines this week.
He says depending on how late they’ve been allowed to stay up over the summer, that time should be cut back in increments each night.
For example he says if the student has been going to bed two hours later than usual, then they should be going to sleep about a half hour earlier each night this week.
Peever says it’s too hard on the system to have to suddenly sleep at an earlier time and get up at an earlier time, so doing it gradually ahead of time is easier.
Peever also recommends getting the amount of sleep that suits the student best.
He says typically younger children need to go to bed earlier and teens do need more sleep.
He says parents will also need to get into routines of getting up a bit earlier so they’ll be ready to pack those lunches and get the kids ready come next Tuesday.
Peever sums it all up by saying routine is the key to students getting enough sleep to be productive and he doesn’t recommend pulling all-nighters.
