News.Scotland.Org

The sleep deprived students in Scotland are taking  a lesson or two on how to get enough sleep. Sleep Scotland, a charity organization, is trying to teach the Glasgow teens the importance of adequate sleep. They are recommending the children to sleep for  nine hours at night by keeping off from  late-night TV and computer games.

Experts say teenagers become moody, irritated and uncommunicative if they are sleep deprived. Many students get only as little as 5 hours of sleep and go to bed after midnight even during weekends because they remain hooked to the online games and web browsing. Sleep deprivation can also lead  to depression and obesity.

Fiona Patterson, head of health and well-being  of Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow, one of the schools participating in the sleep lessons, called the survey results “absolutely shocking.”

Getting sufficient sleep will not only enhance the academic performance of the students  but also their overall alertness and smartness. This pilot  program of offering sleep lessons may develop into a full time program in schools around Scotland in the days to come. EIS, the largest teaching union in Scotland has welcomed the move and opined that it would ensure the overall well being of the students.

Irregular sleep patterns of the youth might adversely affect their biological clock and  the quality of their sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation, which strictly advices the teens to avoid the computer, the TV and the phone, and choose any relaxed leisure activities at night to ensure a good night’s sleep that would allow the students to get up well rested and refreshed the next morning.

Scotland’s crime rate is soaring at such a fast rate that recently it has been listed in the world’s most violent countries. Adding to the crime chart is yet another report which states that knife crime culture is at a high in Scotland, with the convictions merely reaching a ten-year high. This news has come up as an alarm for the Scottish government, which need to put a check on this raging issue.

Looking at the reports we can see an increase of 21% in the number of knife crimes in Lothian and Borders last year. It was also known that the rate of killings carried out with knife in the country was also at the highest in the last five years. In many parts of Scotland the crimes with weapons have gone up, in Lothian and Borders itself about 431 conviction cases were reported last year involving such offensive weapons which is far more than the crimes recorded in 2007-08.

All these reports have raised a serious question on the security of the people in Scotland and also asked for a concrete measure to control these knife crimes.

News Source – Scotsman

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