Students to hold 'sleeping contest'

By Kim Se-jeong

Students at Duksung Women’s University in Seoul will hold a “siesta contest” on the campus today to create awareness of sleep deprivation among those studying for exams.

According to Love Recipe, a student organization, winners of the contest, which will take place on the school’s main lawn, will be those who can fall asleep quickly and sleep deeply.

The contestants will be given five minutes to fall asleep and the jury will start trying to wake them up using loud noises. Whoever can sleep through the noise will win 50,000 won in cash. The runner-up will be given 30,000 won, and third place a pillow. All participants will be given chocolate or energy drinks.

“We were looking for a healthy way to spend time. Going to a club to dance could be an option, but we want something that’s more relaxing,” a representative for the student body said.

Between 20 and 30 people will participate in the contest and applications are already closed.

The contest is to highlight the problem of sleep deprivation that is prevalent among young people in Korea. Stress from academic pressure forces them to sleep less. According to government statistics published this week, three out of 10 young people, aged between 13 and 24, answered that they slept less than six hours per day last year.

Adults also suffer from sleep deprivation in Korea.

An OECD report in 2009 said that Koreans slept the least hours among its members. Koreans slept seven hours and 49 minutes on average per day. The French slept eight hours and 50 minutes, which was the longest time.