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68
Summer Time Act.
causes than want of sleep, and if due to want of sleep,
whether the loss of sleep was the result of bad home
circumstances instead of the Summer Time Act.
Such opinions, which are not supported by definite
evidence, cannot justifiably be brought forward in
condemnation of the Act.
Evidence of Actual Loss of Sleep.—If one could get
actual figures relating to the amount of sleep obtained
by children before the passing of the Act and since,
the real deficiency in sleep could be gauged, but such
figures are not obtainable for comparison. As bearing
on this question, figures relating to a large Boys' School
may be quoted. The headmaster was at first inclined
to believe that the Summer Time Act had an adverse
effect on the boys under his charge, but when he obtained
these figures relating to the actual amount of sleep
obtained, he came to the conclusion that his observations
had been at fault, and that he had arrived at
his opinion without sufficient standards of comparison.
The figures were obtained by the teachers from the
boys themselves who had to indicate when they went
to bed and when they got up in the morning. :—
Duration
of
Night's
Rest.
Classes
Ia.
Avg.
Ages :
14 yrs.
Ib.
yrs.
14
IIa.
yrs.
13
IIb.
yrs.
13
IIIa.
yrs.
IIIb
yrs.
12
IVa.
yrs.
IVb.
yrs.
12
Total
Number
of
Sch'l'rs
10 hrs.
22
32
29
30
50
33
27
29
252
9-10hrs
26
16
19
15
6
16
13
16
127
8-9 hrs.
—
—
1
6
2
3
4
4
20
Less than
8 hrs.
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1
1
No. Present
in Class
48
48
49
51
58
52
44
50
400