Dear Editor,

My name is Hanna Anderson. I’m in fifth grade at Thurgood Marshall School and I feel very strongly about the amount of sleep kids my age get.

Everyday a lot of children come home tired. They don’t want to do anything. They just sit there watching “America’s Got Talent” in their living room. They reveal their D- on a math test. They really don’t want to got to soccer practice. Later that night their parents peek in their room at 10:00 to see that their child has fallen asleep on their homework. The next day the parents get a call from an angry math teacher saying that their child has yet again fallen asleep.

80% of kids lack the 9 or more house of sleep needed everyday. 1 in 4 kids admit that they doze off in class on a regular basis. 97% of kids have electronics that they use before bed. 22% of kids dozed off while finishing homework. 28% of kids say that they’re too tired to exercise, which leads to obesity. According to the Seattle Times -

“Sending students to school without enough sleep is like sending them to school without breakfast. Sleep serves not only a restorative function for adolescents’ bodies and brains, but it is also a key time when they process what they’ve learned during the day.” says Jodi Mindell, associate director of the sleep center at the children’s hospital of Philadelphia.

1 in 3 kids say that they are awakened by the buzz of their phone receiving a text. I think all electronics should e put away well before bed.
4/5 of students that get the recommended amount of sleep get A’s and B’s in school. Kids who don’t normally get lower grades.

So why are kids lacking sleep? I think that it’s because their parents don’t take enough initiative. Parents can control almost everything. They can keep electronics from turning on, they can have their kids finish homework as soon as they get home from school, or they can simply have them go to bed earlier.

Only 20% of kids get the right amount of sleep, that’s only 20% of parents that take initiative. If more parents take control maybe 40% take initiative even 21% is a good start.

Remember the drastic day I wrote about earlier? Imagine a happy child, who gets good grades, and is a nice person to have around, that’s what could happen if parents take initiative.

Thank you very much for considering my letter.

Thanks again,
Hanna G. Anderson