By Owen Liu
As the school year progresses further into its final half, students often find themselves facing extreme amounts of academic pressure, oftentimes at the expense of sleep. As workloads increase, expectations arise leading to work piling up. Yet despite all this, a critical factor continues to be ignored: sleep.
Students are often told that success stems from hard work and pushing through. Famous basketball player Kobe Bryant once said, “Those times when you get up early and you work hard, those times when you stay up late and you work hard… That is actually the dream. That’s the dream. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”
However, this mindset is flawed. Sleep is not a luxury, it is essential for learning and progressing especially as a student. When students sacrifice rest to complete assignments or study, it actually harms their ability to focus and retain information.
According to a study conducted by University of Arizona researcher Michael Grandner, sleep plays a direct role in memory and cognitive function. His research shows that individuals sleeping less than five hours report a 29% productivity loss compared to those getting seven to eight hours. Even sleeping five to six hours amounts to a 19% productivity loss versus those getting nine hours or more.
Especially as the year winds, major projects, exams, and pressure to maintain or improve grades make students feel forced to stay up late just to keep up. This creates a cycle of exhaustion and stress.
For example, during spirit week many sophomores including myself dealt with six major tests and projects to complete. At some times I found myself getting four hours of sleep trying to study or complete all my work. This goes to show that instead of addressing this problem, schools continue to add work adding to this unbearable pressure.
The pressure of such compulsory work will ultimately bring major health consequences. Not only does the immune system become more vulnerable to dangerous infections and pathogens when sleep deprived, but risks ranging from depression to obesity increase as well.
Nate Sloane a freshman said, “When it comes to practice, studying, and homework I find myself lacking necessary sleep quantity and quality.”
Nate, like many at IHS, are risking their health and concentration simply for the sake of completion, yet research proves this isn’t the most efficient means. If schools really value performance, they should opt for a more level spread of assignments and tests especially in later “crunch times”.
Clearly, students shouldn’t be forced to choose between health and grades. Prioritizing sleep is not laziness but a necessary part of your anatomy and success. Until this is recognized, the third and fourth quarters are not about learning but about surviving.
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