Awake-a-thons. Is this a good idea?

The newsletter from one of my favorite charities states that some kids earned money for the charity by participating in an awake-a-thon. I googled this to see if it meant what I thought. Yep, kids take pledges based on the number of hours they stay awake. The events sound like fun. Kids bring sleeping bags and games. However, I just don't like the idea of encouraging kids to pull all-nighters. I guess there is a time in every kid's life when he/she stays up all night with friends but I believe that doing so lead me to become run down and that is how I eventually got mono. I had a very tough recovery from mono, so tough that I do not often talk about it now. Now, some of you know I am on LIF at all hours but I never go 24 hours without sleep and I don't think it's healthy. I'm glad that some kids selected my favorite charity but I wish they had picked a healthier event.

I'm curious about what other people think. Would you let your kids participate?

Re: Awake-a-thons. Is this a good idea?

Hhhmmm...how old are the kids? I mean when I was middle school age if I had a sleepover we were up all night anyway. Might as well make some money for a charity while you're at it! I don't have kids, so I can only answer from my own experience. But younger then middles school, I'd have to say no.