Over 650 Greenwich teens are now following the “Napping Cardinal,” the tired mascot of Give Me My Hour Back Instagram Teen Sleep Awareness Contest.
During the past month, the exhausted bird could be found napping after school—as many teens need to do in order to cope with early start times—in a cozy chair, on a bench or a table at popular local teen hangouts, such as Ada’s, the Hamilton Ave. Garden Catering, Gofer Ice Cream, and Darlene’s, accompanied by his sleep ambassadors, who handed out postcards with tips on good sleep habits.
To enter the contest, students are asked to think about what an extra hour of sleep might mean to them, complete the phrase “I need an extra hour sleep because…,” snap a selfie with the napping bird, and then post the photo with comment to Instagram, encouraging other students to “like” their photo and to get involved in the dialogue.
When 600 teens follow the Napping Cardinal on Instagram, they are not only liking and sharing amusing photos of a sleepy bird, but they are also sending a very loud and clear message to the adults about how a lack of sleep negatively affects their health, mood, and learning—many students citing things such as falling asleep in class, not feeling alert, or getting sick more often. While the Napping Cardinal contest will end on April 26, the education campaign will continue until through the end of the school year.
The contest will come to an official end on April 26, with an event to award three final winners and one grand prize winner. Contest semi-finalists will be asked to write a 300-word essay on why either why they think an extra hour of sleep will benefit them were school start times to change.
The contest was sponsored by Start School Later Greenwich, whose goal is to collaborate with health professionals, sleep scientists, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens to increase public awareness about the relationship between sleep and school hours and to ensure that school start hours are compatible with health, safety, education, and equity of our children.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control, teens who sleep seven of less hours of sleep per night—which is what most of Greenwich High School teens do—are more likely to engage in the kind of risky behavior that results in car accidents, such as texting while driving, drinking and driving, not wearing seatbelts, and even getting into a car with someone else who has been drinking,” said Valerie Erde, one of the chapter leaders of Start School Later Greenwich. “How can we even question changing school start times knowing that we are putting our children, pedestrians, and other drivers in harms way?”
For more information, visit http://www.startschoollater.net/ct—greenwich.html or email SSLGreenwich@gmail.com.
