Extracurricular Education Program "School Life Enrichment! First Steps to Better Sleep" (9/16)

　On September 16, Hosei University Liberal Arts Program "Student Life Enrichment! First Steps to Better Sleep" was held.

　The purpose of this program was to review students' sleeping habits and to provide them with an opportunity to change their own sleeping habits by attending a lecture on sleep. This project was conducted online.

　First, students worked in groups of five to complete a "sleep diary," in which they wrote down their own sleeping time, when they went to sleep, and meal times for a week.

　As soon as the work was completed, the participants discussed their own sleep problems. One group member said, "I go to bed late at night because of my hobbies, so I have time to be absent-minded in the morning," and another said, "I look at my smartphone before I go to bed. Another group found a commonality in that they were "most sleepy after lunch.

　Next, Dr. Toshiharu Takahashi, a professor in Department of PsychologyFaculty of Letters Hosei University and a researcher on sleep, gave a lecture on sleep.

　He began by explaining that good sleep is related to the balance of hormones and the rhythm of sleep, and then mentioned two problems related to sleep among university students: "sleep deprivation syndrome" and "social jet lag. In the case of "sleep deprivation syndrome," he explained the phenomenon of hypersomnia during the daytime due to irregularity in the rhythm of daily life.

　In the case of "social jet lag," he explained that sleep deprivation occurs when there is a difference in the amount of sleep between weekdays and holidays.

　Finally, the same members as in the first group work session discussed whether there was anything from Professor Takahashi's lecture that could be applied to their own sleep habits.

　During the presentation, every group had opinions such as "solving social jet lag" and "moving up the time of exercising just before going to bed," indicating that a lively discussion took place even though the participants could not see the other rooms.

　Although there were some unforeseen communication problems during the program, the entire project was carried out without major delays.

　The program also provided an opportunity for participants to deepen their knowledge about sleep deprivation and how to prevent it. We hope that this program will help the participating students to live their lives without suffering from sleep deprivation during the day.

Report by KYOPRO staff] Koichi Fujii (2nd year, Department of Global Politics, Faculty of Law )