Nunawading Christian College Newsletter, March 18 2020

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I’ve been told that next week marks 50 days of online teaching. We certainly hope there won’t be 50 more. But who’s counting? I don’t know about you, but after a long day of zoom meetings, google meets classes and telephone calls I find it hard to switch off and fall asleep. Counting sheep or counting my blessings is not working at the moment.

Our students are telling us the same thing. A recent survey with our students at NCC revealed that they overwhelmingly feel ‘tired’, ‘weary’, ‘sleep deprived’ and ‘exhausted ’. Sleep quality is vital for our health.

As you may remember, a number of years ago, we invited the Monash Sleep Clinic to come to NCC to present to us on the very important issue of sleep. They increased our awareness of sleep hygiene and the impact of sleep on our physical and mental health. They shared about its role in consolidating memories, which has a direct impact on students ability to learn and remember what they learn at school.

We all know that young children need between 9-11 hours of sleep, but what about teenagers?

Teenagers need between 8-10 hours of sleep. Most are getting 6.5 – 7.5 hours.

Sleep debt cannot be fully repaid on the weekend. It comes at the cost of our quality of life, including mood, lower immune function, decreased brain function and impaired memory. We put in a lot of effort and money to give our students an extra edge, an advantage to ensure their success at school in other ways. So let’s try to maximise the significant advantage that sleep gives our children.

Stage 4 lockdown restrictions have significantly impacted on factors that play an important role in getting quality sleep. We are spending most of our time indoors, with far less physical activity, more napping and increased screen time for work, study and leisure. Some of us are eating more sugar and refined carbohydrates which also affect sleep quality. Then there is the worry, anxiety, the ‘what if’ and the unknown.

But what happens when you are in bed, trying to get the required hours of sleep, but sleep doesn’t come? Inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep are significant struggles, especially during the lockdown.

Worrying about sleep (or lack of it) does not help, but we can take a look at some of the recommendations that may be helpful for you and your children.

Take a look at your bedtime routine.
Reserve your bed for sleep. Work/study at a desk, not in bed.
Spend some time every day outside in natural light.
Avoid using devices before going to bed.
Resist naps, even if you are tired, or restrict them to no more than 20 minutes.
Be active. If walks or going for a run is not possible, and exercising with a mask is a struggle, consider YouTube classes that you can do at a time that suits you in your lounge room or backyard without a mask.
Spend time in prayer before going to bed. Taking time to thank God for His blessings and to pray for others can help.
Have a complete tech-free Sabbath to really rest as you worship God.

There are lots of helpful websites on this topic. We have 5 more weeks of lockdown so it is worth our effort to adjust to our circumstances and to find a routine that will keep the adults and the children in our homes happy and healthy.

Helpful resources:

– Mrs Meggan James and Mrs Hanna Stekla

I was sitting at a café pre-COVID and looked around all the people and noticed that their faces were glowing. Their faces were glowing from the ambient light of their mobile phones. It was an interesting sight to see people of all ages out for a meal, sitting at the table all on their phones.

A couple of nights later my wife and I were heading out and as she got in the car I was texting my brother. My wife said that I always mumble when I type on my phone. I apologised and suggested it was so she felt a part of the conversation. The truth is, I was just trying to string a few sentences together. But then I thought about it a bit more. What message is this sending to my wife… it may suggest that she is of lesser importance than the message that I am typing. How hard would it be for me to wait until we got home to type this text?

Are our phones the main cause of distraction from the people that need our attention? I believe they are. On one hand, I can quickly get frustrated at people using their phones instead of engaging, but then I go ahead and then do the same thing. I use my phone for email and texting like the best of them.

There is nothing wrong with using our phones – as long as we can remember to invest time in our relationship with Jesus and each other. God created us for community, and God himself exists in community as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our little phones (or not so little phones) keep us connected in our day to day lives. But they can quickly become a distraction and cause us to disengage from the people that are in the same room as us.

From Matthew 22:38-40, we can derive that Jesus said that Loving God and loving others was the greatest of all the commands of God. So next time that our pocket devices call for our attention, can I suggest some questions to ask of ourselves:

- Am I putting others before myself right at this moment?
- How can I love the people that are with me if I am not giving them the attention they deserve?
- What if Jesus wants to use me to serve others, but I’m paying attention to my phone?

Our world won’t crash down around us if we don’t reply immediately to that text or that email. We can connect better and love people better when we give them our full attention. If we wanted to think about in a biblical way, we could almost imagine Jesus saying…

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s phone for a friend. (A re-write of John 15:13).

Despite being in a world where we need to rely on technology, let’s try these tips:

Have some time away from the blue light.
Ask someone else about their life. Take the focus off your life.
Look for an opportunity to give someone encouragement.
Ask for the help of Jesus to keep us engaged with the ones with love.

Taking the time to focus on others takes a fair amount of sacrifice. We have to give up our own desires and comforts. But in the end you’ll be surprised at the good it does your heart and the hearts of those around you.