Importance of Sleep for Students

Students, who consider pulling an all-nighter thinking that it will guarantee them great results in their exams, are often unaware of the fact- that stuffing information from the textbooks without giving their brains time to recuperate and process their newly acquired knowledge is a fool-proof setup for failure.

Throughout my school life, my aim was always to be a topper in my class. For this, I would study for long hours without resting. Even though I was aware that God had gifted me with a excellent memory it did not stop me from doing this. There were times when my parents literally barged inside my bedroom at midnight and found me studying in the bathroom- in hiding; my belief was: the more knowledge I cram, the better I can score next day in the exam. They would forcefully put me to bed and tell me “You already know what there is to know, sleep now, so that you can write your answers correctly with a fresh mind tomorrow.” They sure were right and I am forever grateful to them for coming to my rescue.

Later in my life, during my freshman year at university I used to utilize the SWOT break with maximum tutelage to prepare for my exams. I studied day and night with very less sleep, until I could not stay awake. Therefore, I would have lucid dreams in which I would interact with my classmates about studies during my sleep. The first few attempts at the exams luckily proved well for me, but later from my sophomore year I realized it was affecting my performance during the exam time. That’s when I realized that studying is important but taking enough breaks between studies and also giving the brain the time to rest was important to for better concentration and performance in the exam.

A shared fable is very popular among students these days, that playing an audio book to learn a new language during their sleep can allow them to absorb the information throughout the night and next day they can wake up to speaking the language fluently. If that was true, all text books and professors would have become extinct by now and the audio books market would be a global monopoly business.

There are stages of sleep which enable our brains to process the information. An adolescent needs 8-10 hours of sleep for proper resting and functioning. During their sleep, the person will go through various stages of sleeping pattern: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) – in which a person is dreaming and SWS (slow wave sleep) also known as restorative sleep. It stimulates the neurons of the brain to access the connections of the nerves to process different types of information a person had acquired while they were awake.

When a student is learning a new language or activity their brain registers that knowledge during the REM (Rapid- eye- movement) stage of sleep. That is when he/she is dreaming of scenarios which register the information the child has assimilated by interacting in the new language with others. Researchers also focus on slow wave sleep (SWS) nowadays, as it helps the brain to absorb factual information and consolidate it for future access. Both type of sleep plays a major role in forming and processing different types of information from a person’s memory.

Today, children are predisposed to staying awake until the later hours of the night, getting less sleep even though they must wake up early in the morning for school. They do not realize they are depriving their brain from its much deserved rest, which is detrimental to their health and studies. A sleep deprived person not only suffers from memory impairment with time, they also suffer from physical problems like obesity and diabetes, as their immune system gets compromised. It also affects their mood and others by their behavior.

Hence it is strongly advised for all students to make sleep their priority and not forcefully stay awake at night to study or chat with a friend on WhatsApp/ Facebook messenger and/or watch entertainment shows on YouTube or Netflix. One can never catch up on lost sleep. Students should start realizing the importance of sleep for a healthier and bountiful life.

Tazkia Arusa
Asst. Manager Admissions