Today morning when I met first year student in lift, she was
not active as one should be.
I casually asked, so do you have class now?
And she cribbed - yes, this morning 0900 class is bad. And it
was not good, even when it was at 0930 last term. We normally jump to
conclusion that oh they spend night in futile stuff like movie, Facebook, mobiles,
parties and crib in morning.
But still it made me think!
I have normally morning class once a week and I can sense
they are drowsy, sleepy and not that alert in the class. They keep up popping
in the class even after scheduled time. What I found (thanks to Google) is that
‘darkness hormone’ melatonin is the cause behind it. The level of melatonin reaches high earlier as
people get older. Thus for your faculty who is in his late 40’s or 50’s (or more!)
this melatonin begins its effect at 10 pm, while for students – who are not so
aged, the same melatonin shows its effect at 1 am.
Moreover when you keep your mobile at fingertips, browse
Facebook, pumps up caffeine this further disturbs your sleep cycle at night.
Irrespective of hormone or behavior, lack of sleep surely leads
your behavior to moody, impulsive, and you show poor performance in academics. I am proponent of early morning routine and myself trying to go back to it with New Year resolutions round the corner. I hope students also should learn to
strike a balance in their night-activities and morning-routines. Here are some useful tips to start with.
I too try my morning classes to be more participatory and action packed , rather than mere lectures !
Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are welcome.
Image source: http://www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/varsity/0401/Periscope/school05.jpg
