Uni introduces nap room for sleepy students
A scene from inside the "nap nook". Photo: @MikeLiggins Twitter
Bleary-eyed students at a UK university will soon be saying good night to library floor slumbers and classroom snoozes as the campus gets its first ever nap room.
The University of East Anglia in the town of Norwich, East England, now has its own ‘nap nook’ thanks to the work of the school’s enterprising student union.
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The room that, which opens on Thursday, lets nappers book a 40-minute sleep slot from 12pm to 6pm each day when they can grab some shut-eye on bean bags and sofa beds.
A scene from inside the “nap nook”. Photo: @MikeLiggins Twitter
The facility is even equipped with communal eye-masks and CCTV surveillance just to make sure no unsavoury ‘misuse’ goes down.
(Just to be clear, this is a separate room specifically put aside for sleeping and is not to be confused with what some students may know better as a “lecture theatre”.)
With universities putting more and more of their content online, the 21st century student is able to take a more cavalier attitude to in-class attention, but experts warn while you can catch up on learning, a lack of sleep is not so good for your body.
All jokes aside, the British university says real concerns about student welfare are behind the room’s creation.
The room is based on a successful nap space implemented at the James Madison University in Virginia, USA, which was championed by their sleep and actigraphy lab.
A spokeswoman from the University of East Anglia said the university hopes the ‘nap nook’ will give students with real energy problems like chronic fatigue syndrome a better educational experience while also aiming to educate the student body about the harm of pulling study (or leisure) all-nighters.