The Importance of Sleep for Success in School

By Anita Severin

Students are commonly told that getting a good night of sleep will help achieve better

grades in school. Is this true? According to the Open University on average, high school

students frequently get less than 8 hours of sleep a night. The University researched the

connection between a lack of sleep to bad moods and depression in adolescents. It’s no secret

that when we get less sleep, we are likely more irritable and unengaged, therefore not in the

optimal headspace for learning and effectively utilizing our work time during school. Getting 8

hours of sleep a night is essential for students’ mental health, and further influences how

motivated one is to learn.

A common misconception is going to bed early only the day before a test or exam, will

help students perform their best. This is false. A study by MIT news discovered that those who

got the least amount of sleep did the poorest on exams even if they went to bed slightly earlier

the night before their exam. Only those who are consistent with going to bed at a certain time

will experience the benefits of sleep on their grades. The night before an assessment is not solely

the focus, it’s all the nights leading up to an evaluation, and the days that the material was taught.

Memorization and retaining knowledge becomes much easier when our brain has had a restful

sleep. Consistently giving our bodies the proper amount of rest will greatly improve our focus,

come the day of our evaluation.

Lastly, it is important to realize that caffeine does not replace a proper night of rest.

Caffeine is merely a short-term solution; it ironically loses its effectiveness the less we sleep.

Caffeine only blocks the sleep-inducing chemical messages that the brain receives when our

bodies are tired, therefore it will not help one retain knowledge as sleep does. Being diligent with

getting to bed on time each night is a simple yet extremely effective step to achieving better

grades in school.