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Ryan McNiff

Mrs. Brower

Adv. Comp

8 March.2022

Does The Lack of Sleep Affect Highschool Student's Grades?

Some people may not try hard enough in school, or some may just not do well in school;

it might be the fact that high school students do not get enough sleep outside of school. Lack of

sleep is one of the most widely recognized issues among high school and college students. A

lack of sleep affects high school students’ grades because of the mental health issues that it

causes. It causes teens to feel depressed, and often have a change in their personality. The lack of

sleep before school not only takes a toll on high school students mentally, but it also takes a toll

on their grades. A lack of sleep affects high school students' grades because of the mental health

issues it causes, the amount of sleep that the students are getting, and the grades themselves on

assignments.

To begin with, a lack of sleep has an effect on your psychological state and your own

mental health. It all starts with a feeling of being stressed or over-worried, which then causes a

lack of sleep. Without enough sleep, you start to feel tired throughout the day which makes it

difficult to cope with everyday tasks within your life. Not being able to cope with everyday

activities within your life can become difficult and can only turn into negative thoughts. When

thinking about everything in a negative mindset will lower your self-esteem and start to cause

mental health issues(Mind Pg1). Some of the mental health effects of a lack of sleep are anxiety,
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depression, and seasonal affective disorder. Anxiety can cause racing or repetitive thoughts, and

worries that keep you awake, it can also cause panic attacks while you're sleeping(Mind Pg1). In

addition, high school is when teens typically go through the “phase shift” which is when they

start going through puberty. During this stage, teens tend to start developing changes within their

own bodies. As teens go through this phase they tend to stay up longer due to psychological

factors or being stressed out academically(Carpenter Pg1). Students stay up all night worrying

about a test they have to study for, or working on assignments that they have procrastinated on.

This can lead to overwhelming stress levels and can lead to serious mental health issues. A lack

of sleep often leads to depression, which causes a loss of interest in the everyday things that you

enjoy doing. Depression can also cause even a greater lack of sleep which can lower one's

self-esteem. Teens tend to stay up later because of more distractions in their lives, teens are often

distracted by social media, television, and other things going on in the world; this has a huge

impact on the way that teens sleep because they simply cannot put the phone down. Even though

some teens might not experience the mental illness symptoms of a lack of sleep, not sleeping

enough still can cause drowsiness or fatigue which further down the road can cause injuries. For

example, drowsiness or fatigue is the principal cause of at least 100,000 traffic accidents each

year. In a North Carolina state study, studies showed that 55% of fall asleep accidents occurred

with everyone being under the age of 25 years old (Garey Pg1). Mental health plays a big role in

not only teens but in everyone's day-to-day lives. One of the most key factors to mental health

issues is the lack of sleep.

Next, the amount of sleep high school students are getting is one of the most important

issues. Sleep is one of the most important things anyone needs to carry out their everyday tasks.

Adolescents sleep less than they did when they were children, declining from an average of 10
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hours a night, to fewer than 7.5 hours by age 16 (Carpenter Pg1). At the beginning of puberty

and into the early twenties, adolescents need at least an average of 9.2 hours of sleep a night

versus the 7.5 hours of sleep that adults need (Carpenter Pg1). With sleep being an issue among

teens, it is said that most teens are experiencing severe sleep debt. For example, “the physical,

mental, and behavioral consequences of chronic sleep deprivation are profound too. With studies

showing that 60 to 70% of American teens live with a borderline to severe sleep debt”. Already

at a young age teens are developing bad habits, this can easily lead to issues further down the

road. A study done by the American Psychological Association shows that 26% of high school

students routinely sleep less than 6.5 hours on a school night. Also, in the same study, it was said

that only 15% of high school students sleep more than 8.5 hours on a school night. Students'

sleep is one of the most important factors that contribute to their grades. If a student is drowsy or

sleeping in class they are not getting the correct education they need, and their grade will reflect

it. Sleeping in class will cause an overwhelming amount of homework that will either keep

students up all night, or their grades will be on a rapid plummet. This will forever be a

never-ending cycle unless students start getting the sleep that they need. The lack of sleep also

can affect a student's mood, it can change their whole mindset about school. Some students

simply will just drop out, and other students will just sleep in class. If a teenager develops bad

sleeping habits as an adolescent, how do you think that will transfer over to their adulthood? The

best thing a student can do now at this age is to try and get the best sleeping schedule they can.

Students need to prioritize their schoolwork and sleep versus other things like video games, or

hanging out with friends. A teenager's alcohol use might also affect their ability to sleep. For

example, “during early development, young people with a family history of drinking problems
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might have abnormalities in the brain mechanisms that govern sleep”(Carpenter Pg2). It is quite

clear to see that sleep does have an effect on high school students' grades.

Lastly, lack of sleep affects the grades that students get on the assignments. Students who

sleep less than six hours a night had an average of 82 percent on tests, whereas students who

slept more than 6 hours had at least an 83 percent or better (Coletta Pg1). Test grades have a

huge impact on students' grades, and outways the points of other assignments. Students who

slept more than 9 hours a school night averaged a 3.24 GPA. Other students who only slept 6 or

fewer hours averaged a 2.74 GPA(Chervin Pg2). This is a huge difference between the two

different grade point averages, it shows that sleep does have an effect on how students perform in

the classroom. More of the high academic performers showed earlier bedtimes, and also earlier

wake-up times compared to students who go to sleep later. Students who are at risk for failure

were at high risk of having sleep disorders(Chervin Pg2). These students also tested positive for

illnesses such as periodic limb movement disorder, restless legs syndrome, and insomnia. Nearly

one in every four students that are at risk of failing have at least one of these illnesses caused by

a lack of sleep. It is also shown that students who have a lack of sleep can not improve their

performance in the classroom that well because their brain constantly trying to catch up to the

body (Chervin Pg2). It is important to stay on top of your grades especially in high school,

without the sleep you need it will be almost impossible to keep up in any of your classes during

the day or while doing homework. Sleep is a key factor in why students with high academic

success are so successful compared to other students.

To conclude, everyone needs sleep in their day-to-day life to perform daily tasks. Without

the correct amount of sleep, you can only negatively affect your own body. Sleep is a key factor,

especially to high school students whose brains are still in development. Not doing well in school
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is a direct result of students not getting enough sleep. A lack of sleep affects high school

students' grades because of the mental health issues it causes, the amount of sleep that the

students are getting, and the grades themselves on assignments. Overall, keeping a balanced

amount of sleep throughout your high school career can be very beneficial if you have the correct

balance. The key to having a good day is sleep.

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Work Cited:

Coletta, Vincent P. “To Study or to Sleep: How Seeing the Effect of Sleep Deprivation Changed

Students' Choices.” American Association of Physics Teachers, American Association of

Physics Teachers AAPT, 1 Jan. 1970,

https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.5145469?journalCode=pte#:~:text=Final%20e

xam%20scores%20were%20correlated,scores%20with%20hours%20of%20sleep.

“GPA & Emotional Effects of Sleep Deprivation on High School Students.” American Academy

of Sleep Medicine – Association for Sleep Clinicians and Researchers, 27 Jan. 2020,

https://aasm.org/poor-sleep-can-negatively-affect-a-students-grades-increase-the-odds-of-

emotional-and-behavioral-disturbance/#:~:text=%E2%80%93%20Insufficient%20sleep%

20among%20adolescents%20may,22nd%20Annual%20Meeting%20of.

Hershner, Shelley D, and Ronald D Chervin. “Causes and Consequences of Sleepiness among

College Students.” Nature and Science of Sleep, Dove Medical Press, 23 June 2014,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4075951/.

“Sleep and Mental Health - Harvard Health Publishing.” Harvard Health, 17 Aug. 2021,

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health.

“Sleep Deprivation May Be Undermining Teen Health.” Monitor on Psychology, American

Psychological Association, https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/sleepteen.

“Teens and Sleep: The Cost of Sleep Deprivation.” Child Mind Institute, 25 Aug. 2021,

https://childmind.org/article/happens-teenagers-dont-get-enough-sleep/.
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“Types of Mental Health Problems.” Mind,

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/.