Sleep has a significant impact on students’ school performance. Good sleep is essential for basic functions such as memory, attention, and problem-solving. When students get enough sleep, they benefit from being more focused and productive, which makes them perform better overall.
Sleep plays a crucial role in high school students’ future success. Getting good sleep at night helps your academic performance, your physical health, your emotional well-being, how you function on a day-to-day basis, and most importantly, builds good long-term habits. Ms. Taylor is a staff member here at CHS who teaches US history. When asked about the long-term effects of students’ sleep, she notes, “I think high school is an important time to start setting patterns and routines for the rest of your life, so if you’re sleeping in class in high school, it’s difficult to engage in class when you get to college or trade schools or whatever you do in the future or even earning jobs.” Ms. Taylor believes it is fair to let students take breaks occasionally if they need them, but they should avoid sleeping in class as much as possible.
One big problem in our school is students getting behind in their courses because of sleeping during class. There are many different views on students sleeping in class; a few teachers don’t mind it, but many find it extremely disrespectful and rude. Ms. Sigman is a highly-valued staff member here at Concord High School, a Health and Fitness-for-Life teacher who knows many facts and has many good opinions about sleep. Sigman recommends that students get 8-10 hours of sleep to function the right way. Sigman also says, “In some circumstances, sleep is needed, but school is a place for learning. If a student is falling asleep regularly in class, I recommend that they re-evaluate their sleeping habits at home. If they are not getting the recommended amount of sleep each night, they could start there.”
When asked how she thinks sleep affects students’ performance in the classroom, Mrs Sigman states, “Adequate sleep impacts many areas of your life. During sleep, people recover from physical and emotional stressors, such as falling blood pressure, heart rate and breathing slowing down, muscles relaxing, and body temperature falling. Sleep is closely linked to learning and memory. When someone doesn’t get enough sleep, it can decrease their alertness and cause excessive daytime sleepiness/fatigue, all of which can impair your ability to think, retain, and process information. Not getting enough sleep can negatively impact your immune system, causing you to become sick more often and for sickness to last longer than normal.”
Many students have many different perspectives on sleeping during the night and sleeping during school. One student with an interesting perspective on things is Concord’s freshman, Derrell Jackson. Jackson is widely regarded as a respectful and kind student here at CHS. Jackson has a problem with staying awake in class and speaks on how sleep affects him throughout the day. When asked how much sleep he gets, and how much he thinks a student should get, Jackson states, “I get around 6 hours of sleep and sometimes it is hard to get through the day without feeling drowsy. I just feel like I’m never at 100% with the amount of sleep I get.” he continues, “ I think students should get 8-10 hours of sleep to be at their best; I think if they get enough sleep it’ll help them focus more and overall be better throughout their day.” Jackson emphasizes how much sleep is important to get and also feels that “Teachers should give students breaks when they need them, but they shouldn’t overuse the privilege and sleep in class all the time, only when they need it.”
Another stand-out student here at CHS is junior Tyler Rundle. Rundle is an excellent student who keeps his grades up and mostly leads by example to his classmates. Rundle has strong opinions and good views on sleep. Rundle talks about how he gets around 7 hours of sleep, but recommends, “Students should get at least 8 hours of sleep because I know for sure I’m not at my best when I get only 6 hours of sleep.” When asked how he thinks sleep effects performance in the class room Rundle says, “It definitely affects your focus and the ability to pay attention; I just think getting good amounts of sleep is important for doing good in all aspects of life not just school.”
Instead of watching television, scrolling on your phone, procrastinating on your homework, try to go to sleep by 11:00pm so that you can set your self up to be in the best position the next day.
