What is it about?
This study explores how Taiwanese families with school-aged children manage sleep amidst the pressures of academic achievement. Using interviews and two-week diaries from 11 families, we reveal how cultural norms and expectations influence bedtime routines and sleep schedules. We also examine how parents and children work together to adopt flexible practices like napping to tackle sleep deprivation. The study highlights the need for culturally sensitive sleep technologies that account for both health and social expectations, advocating for incorporating "care" and "attunement" as a design strategy.
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Why is it important?
Sleep is an essential topic in our daily lives, often approached as a health necessity. Most sleep studies adopt a Western-centric perspective, emphasizing standardized, regular routines as the sign of "healthy sleep." These frameworks assume specific temporal and spatial norms, such as sleeping for at least eight hours every night in the bedroom and maintaining a regular bedtime. However, sleep is not just a physical activity; it’s a social practice, deeply embedded in cultural and social contexts. Our research explores the sleep practices in Taiwanese families. In Taiwan, school-aged children’s sleep is heavily influenced by academic pressures, reflecting the unique interplay between cultural norms and family dynamics, which may differ from those commonly found in Western societies. By exploring the diverse sleep practices in Taiwanese families, the study contributes to a broader understanding of how family dynamics shape daily routines and sleep health in diverse cultural settings.
Perspectives
This research was inspired by observing the unique challenges faced by Taiwanese families juggling academic demands and health, particularly sleep. Writing this paper allowed us to reflect on how deeply cultural norms and family dynamics influence daily routines. The resilience of families, as seen in their creative strategies, such as compressing routines and adopting flexible naps, offers valuable insights into designing technologies that embrace, rather than impose, the irregularity of life. This study advocates for sleep technologies that align with the evolving rhythms of real life. I hope this work inspires meaningful discussions about creating empathetic, adaptable systems that prioritize family well-being while respecting cultural diversity and the complexity of everyday life.
HCI Researcher Yang Hong
National Chiao Tung University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Balancing Sleep and Study: Cultural Contexts in Family Informatics for Taiwanese Parents and Children, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, January 2025, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3701183.
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