True or False: Student that Sleeps More Gets Better Grades (GZAAT Edition)

Until the 1950s, most people thought of sleep as a useless and vain part of our lives. Fast forward 70 years, and now we know the importance of sleep and its countless benefits. Sleep plays a huge role in students’ lives. It helps them to stay focused, improve concentration, and improve academic performance. “Children and adolescents who do not get enough sleep have a higher risk for many health problems, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, poor mental health, and injuries” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Today, many students give up sleep to get good grades, but is this method effective?

Members of the Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC), who provide a student perspective to the University Health Service (UHS), identified sleep as a top focus. They conducted a survey among college students because it’s no secret that college students tend to sacrifice sleep to squeeze the most out of 24 hours. The survey showed that college students are the most sleep-deprived generation. As a result, 75% of U-M undergraduates do not sleep enough to feel rested on five or more days per week, and 19% reported that sleep difficulties had an impact on academic performance in the past year. By this survey, the Student Health Advisory Council made a statement: The amount of sleep that a college student gets is one of the strongest predictors of academic success.

I decided to conduct my own survey asking 60 GZAAT freshmen about their sleeping schedules and their grades. Here’s the data I collected:

Firstly, I asked students how much sleep they get throughout the night.

No one from the interviewed students sleeps more than eight to nine hours.

Then, I asked them if they are satisfied with their grades or not.

As it turned out, even though some students aren’t satisfied with their grades, each of them still has the motivation to study.

Finally, I asked the students if they feel tired throughout the day or not. And if their sleeping schedule has anything to do with it.

The answers varied, but what conclusions can be made from this survey? What’s more important than this data is individual students’ responses.

There are 32 possible combinations that can be formed from the answers above, and the most common combination that accounts for 27.5% of the students is when a student has an unstable sleeping schedule, is satisfied with their grades, but feels tired throughout the day, because of the amount of sleep they get. The second most common combination is when a student sleeps less than six to seven hours daily, is satisfied by his/her grades, but again feels tired throughout the day because of the sleeping schedule. This combination takes up 15% of the students. It’s noteworthy that none of the interviewed students sleep for eight to nine hours a day but are unsatisfied by their grades or sleep for less than 6 hours daily and are still unsatisfied by their grades.

The conclusion drawn from this observation is that for the majority of the students, an unstable sleeping schedule or a daily average of fewer than six hours of sleep leads to satisfactory grades but leaves a student exhausted and drained.

The survey demonstrated that the statement - a student that sleeps a few hours more gets better grades - is not a direct formula. A student can get satisfactory grades by reducing the hours of sleep, but he/she will feel exhausted, overworked, and have no time or energy for anything else except homework. Also, the reduced hours will lead to several different mental and physical health issues. It’s hard to follow a daily routine. But getting 8 to 9 hours of sleep will not only provide students with satisfactory grades, but also will fill them with more energy to take care of themselves, do something fun, exciting, and have more time to be happy and healthy.

Edited by Mashiko Lortkipanidze