What do our students say

Several months ago, we conducted some surveys to find out a bit more about the habits and behaviours of our students to understand them and their world better. Over 85% of our survey questions were answered by our students, which suggests that the data is quite strong and therefore our findings are an expression of the majority.

The first question that we asked was on average, what time did each student go to bed on a normal weekday.

 Of the 106 students surveyed, it was quite alarming to see 44 students going to sleep after 11pm, especially considering that most experts believe that 8-10 hours of sleep is essential for teenagers that are growing and regenerating while they sleep.

This question was followed by how many hours of sleep, on average, each student gets on a normal weekday.

With this question, we found that just over a third (38 students) had more than eight hours of sleep on most days. Nearly two-thirds of our students got less than the recommended amount, with 27 students getting between 5-7 hours of sleep per night. This sleep deficit cannot be fixed with a coffee or energy drink. It will affect concentration in class, increase the likelihood of injury and decrease optimal performance in training and matches.

Linked to a lack of quality sleep is screen time on devices other than for school work during the school day and homework. The results for this were quite concerning and may well impact on your child's chance of playing football at a higher level and doing well in their studies.

Only two students had less than an hour of screen time a day, with 50 students saying that they had at least three hours of 'non-essential' screen time per day, which could be in the form of social media, gaming and streaming movies, and shows.

As parents, we can influence this behavior with our own modeling at home and having 'device-free' periods of time at home, where we can replace screen time with reading a book, playing a board game, practicing an instrument, or doing some core exercises, all of which should improve the quality of sleep. 

In the next issue, we will look at some football-specific responses related to the level that each child thinks they can reach, their nutrition habits and their thoughts on coaching.