Academic ability higher among children who go to bed early: study

By Akira Ogawa

TOKYO —

Children who go to bed early sleep soundly and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed. They are also physically and mentally healthy, with higher academic ability than their peers.

These findings were reported by Toyama University professor Yasuko Kamikawa at a recent meeting of the Japanese Society of Sleep Research in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture.

The professor surveyed the time children in Toyama Prefecture go to sleep and found that many lower-grade elementary school pupils go to sleep before 10 p.m. But there is a delay of one hour on average as ages advance by 3.

Two-thirds of senior high school students were found to go to sleep after midnight.

She said that if children go to sleep later, the lack of sleep causes frustration and irritations during the day to increase, lowering the refreshing feelings from waking up and influencing children’s quality of life.

Kamikawa analyzed the results of academic aptitude tests in 2007 and the bedtime hour of 277 third- to sixth-graders at an elementary school and found that 41 percent of pupils who went to sleep before 9 p.m. scored more than 95 points on average on tests, and the scores were lower for those going to bed later.

No pupils who went to sleep after midnight got more than 95 points.

The gap in academic ability between children who went to bed early and others was higher in mathematics, which requires careful consideration for answering questions, than in Japanese language, she said.

Children watching TV programs and playing games for more than three hours a day were found to forget school items, nap during class and get lower test scores. These children had unstable physical conditions and were liable to become listless, she said.

She said that although keeping late hours with not enough sleep causes a vicious circle of lower academic ability, fatigue and shortage of concentration power, some parents are not instructing their children to go to sleep early.

Kamikawa said, ‘‘Sleep guidance, especially to third- and fourth-graders, is helpful to help them grow mentally and physically, and improve their academic skills. Parents should not think that it is sufficient for children to have the same amount of sleep as adults do. Talking to family members before going to bed is also advisable.’’

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Latest 15 of 23 Total Comments Show All

CavemanLawyer at 10:34 AM JST - 7th September

If school started later, the night owls would have no problem. In fact, I would bet they would score really well if school started about noon. It is also known that the brain works better later in the day than even hours after waking up.

--Cirroc
WMD at 10:37 AM JST - 7th September

jonnyboy Yes! Now that comment says it all. At the school and at the workplace, it's all about control of the drones.
bamboohat at 11:08 AM JST - 7th September

Somehow, I doubt that the parents who don't send their kids to bed early will be moved to enlightened action by this astoundingly cutting edge report.
papaguy1980 at 11:27 AM JST - 7th September

I once questioned my friend about her son, who attended a private JHS about why he was up so late studying. She told me it's "the norm" in Japan to be studying until around midnight if you wanted to do well in exams. Her son didn't do so well, and is now studying abroad in a country with a half-decent education system.
Zenigata2 at 05:05 PM JST - 7th September

I feel sorry for Japanese children, who are groomed early to face a life of sleep deprivation. Anytime I board a train in the evening full of half-asleep zombies I wonder why nobody seems to have the will to break this old and cruel custom to consider sleep "wasted time" rather than a much needed opportunity for the body to recharge itself from the fatigue of the day. I was appalled when my ex-wife told me about the verb "tetsuya suru" used to describe somebody who gets by very little or no sleep at all. That literally means "to do the railwayman's shift" because, according to what she said, railway workers used to work 20 hours and sleep 4 hours every day.
Schoolboyerror at 08:58 PM JST - 7th September

Japanese kids are not deprived of sleep - they spend most of their school (real school, not juku) hours doing just that.
isthistheend at 09:20 PM JST - 7th September

Its all a kind of "gaman". You have to suffer to be Japanese. Its a kind of "in" thing. After 20 years of living here, I'll be the first to say, its sure as heck no picnic living here. Never a moment of silence or peace as I've known in my childhood. And then getting out of here is a big deal. Unless you just "hop on the bus, gus, make a new plan stan, you don't have to be coy Roy, just listen to me, drop off the key Lee, and set yourself free.
ExPrinceska at 10:26 PM JST - 7th September

Japanese kids are not deprived of sleep - they spend most of their school (real school, not juku) hours doing just that.

That is ok. I am searching for a job where I can sleep all day and get money for it.
some14some at 07:23 AM JST - 8th September

"It's an age-old wisdom of mankind" well said triple888 giving you 5*
soldave at 09:26 AM JST - 8th September

In other studies, the sun appears yellow and the sky blue.
serindipity at 09:28 AM JST - 8th September

Why is this so surprising? Of course kids with better sleeping habits achieve better results at school because they are not asleep during classes. There is also the medical facts of sleep being needed for brain development in children, but let's not confuse this with the real issue of sleeping at school.
helloklitty at 11:05 AM JST - 8th September

That is ok. I am searching for a job where I can sleep all day and get money for it.

Would you settle for just being on your back all day?
DenshaDeGO at 12:39 PM JST - 9th September

In other studies, the sun appears yellow and the sky blue.

Actually the Japanese see the sun as red.
barfly08 at 01:25 PM JST - 9th September

"Actually the Japanese see the sun as red."

Through blood shot eyes ?
bushlover at 01:57 PM JST - 10th September

If parents acted as enforcers of home rules Japan could solve many a problem. Maybe we'd have more alert students, less family killings.