Digital devices can have a negative impact on children’s volume and quality of sleep they accumulate each night. It is however, important to note that screens aren’t the sole causal factor of poor sleep in children. Sports and social activities and mental health issues such as anxiety are some other factors that are also contributing to waning sleep habits in children today.

Here are some of the ways digital devices compromise sleep:

• Blue light impact– The blue light emitted from screens (especially small hand-held devices such as smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles) impact children’s  circadian rhythms. The blue light prevents the pineal gland from producing melatonin the sleep hormone the brain needs to secrete to make children sleepy. Inadequate production of melatonin prevents them from feeling tired and can delay the onset of sleep.
  
• Arousal effect– rapid-fire, fast-paced screen action can hyper-arouse the brain making delaying the onset of sleep. Playing video games, watching fast-paced TV programs, or engaging in group messages, or viewing social media can all arouse the brain and delay the onset of sleep. These sleep delays can accumulate into a sleep deficit over time.
• Scary or upsetting content– can psychologically distress our children, especially if they’re consuming it just before they fall asleep. Viewing distressing content can cause nightmares, particularly amongst younger children under 10 years of age.
• Premature waking – many parents today are reporting that their children are waking at earlier and earlier times to get their daily ‘dose of digital’ (often before their parents wake up).
• Interrupted sleep cycles– the presence of digital devices in bedrooms can interfere with completed sleep cycles. Each night children should go through five stages of sleep and repeat that cycle 4-6 times each night. If they have a device in their bedroom the alerts and notifications can interrupt the sleep cycles.

SIMPLE & REALISTIC SOLUTIONS

• Keep devices OUT of bedrooms– the presence of digital devices in bedrooms can increase the likelihood of sleep delays and children using devices (unsupervised) throughout the night.
• Establish a digital bedtime– ideally screens should be switched off 60-90 minutes before they fall asleep. This helps to calm the brain and prevent the adverse impact of blue light.
• Do a tech-swap before bed– for some families screens are part of the evening routine. So instead of using a smartphone or tablet (which are interactive and emit blue light) before bed allow children to watch TV (they don’t typically emit as much blue light and hopefully they don’t sit as close to TVs as they do handheld devices), listen to an audiobook or podcasts
• Establish a landing zone– nominate a specific place in your home where all digital devices go at night. It may be the kitchen counter, the sideboard, a laundry bench.
• Preserve green time - children need time in natural sunlight each day to help regulate their circadian rhythms (and ward off myopia, near-sightedness). Ideally, children should be exposed to natural sunlight between 8am-12pm each day.

Information from Dr Kristy Goodwin’s blog ‘Simple Solutions to Stop Screens Sabotaging Sleep’

Jeannine Ucdereli
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching