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Every teenager knows how hectic the life of a student can be. Twenty-four hours a day is simply not enough time to balance schoolwork, extracurricular activities, community service, and a social life. When tests, projects, and homework begin to pile up, students often sacrifice sleep in order to accomplish everything. But does this really help the student or hinder their performance?
According to a study conducted by Stanford University, adolescents need approximately nine hours of sleep each night to function at their best. The average student, however, gets a mere six and a half hours per night. Many students get much less, working into the early hours of the morning to finish homework or study for a test. In doing so, precious hours of sleep are lost, hindering their academic performance.
Tenth grade Honors English II teacher Mr. Whitcomb agrees. “What I’ve seen is that higher-order thinking is impaired by the lack of sleep. If you’re just needing to do simple recall and regurgitation for the test, then it’s not as detrimental as a test that requires synthesis or evaluation,” he said.
Procrastination affects students of all types. All-nighters tend to be more prevalent among students who are involved in many extracurricular activities, challenging courses, or who have an after-school job. These students often find their schedules too full to allow for preparation beforehand, and, therefore, must resort to an all night cram session the night before a test or writing a paper the night before it is due.
Even though an all-nighter may sometimes seem like the only option, there is a simple way in which a student can avoid these harmful study habits. “Prepare,” says Whitcomb. “If a student continually looks over material being covered, even for just a few minutes each evening, then the need to pull an all-nighter is almost eliminated.”
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