FAMILY BRIEFS
Play puts focus on sex education

Advertiser Staff and News Service

The Liliha Public Library will host "It Can Happen to You," an award-winning play that tackles the issues of teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, the next two Saturdays.

Directed by Karen Loebl, the play uses music, drama and local humor to educate youth about sex.

Recommended for students from seventh through 12th grade, it has been presented to more than 25,000 students in more than 35 schools in Hawai'i and Los Angeles.

Admission is free. Showtimes are 2 p.m. May 31 and 2 p.m. June 7.

For more information: 587-7577.

Few women sleep 8 hours a night

What do women need more than anything? A nap.

According to a National Sleep Foundation survey, almost three out of four women ages 30 to 60 do not get eight or more hours of sleep per night during the workweek. The average woman gets a little more than 6 1/2 hours of sleep per night.

Almost three out of four American mothers working outside the home agree that "feeling tired all the time is a problem in their lives," according to the study.

Kids not sleeping enough, either

According to a British survey, one out of 10 parents admitted they had never read their children a bedtime story.

Instead, children are now falling asleep to television shows, computer games and videos.

Two-thirds of children are not getting enough sleep, and experts are blaming TVs and computers in their bedrooms. By his seventh birthday, the average child will have missed out on as much as 4,500 much-needed hours of sleep, according to one claim.

"Bedrooms are changing from places of rest and tranquility to places where there are lots of things to keep children awake," said sleep deprivation expert Jim Horne of Loughborough University.

"I would not allow a child to have a TV or a computer in their room — or at least place firm limits on their use."