Sleep Disturbances Affect Classroom Performance

A bad night sleep can have an adverse affect on adult’s performance at work the next day.

In the same way, if there is a disturbed sleep for high school or middle school students, it affect’s their school performance.

According to the research published in the Journal of clinical sleep medicine, students who experience sleep problems are more likely to get bad grades in school.

It is examined that students of middle class and high class have sleep complaints frequently.

The students who got bad grades were more likely to have restless legs syndrome, difficulty concentrating during the day, difficulty waking up in the morning, excessive sleepiness during the day, snoring, and sleeping in the class.

According to the study, inadequate sleep, poor quality of sleep and irregular sleep patterns occur at high frequencies in students and significantly affect school performance. Difficulty in concentration and restless legs syndrome are the symptoms associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Parents should take care of their children and teen’s sleep related problems and should discuss the condition with the doctor.

During teenage, the body’s circadian rhythm is reset and tells the teen to fall asleep late in the night and wake up late in the morning.

This is due to the hormone melatonin which is produced late at night in teens than it is for kids and adults. This is also called as delayed sleep phase syndrome. It is common among teenagers, but it does not affect every teen.

One factor of sleep disturbance is teenagers go to sleep late in the night on the weekends and sleep until afternoon in the next day. This sleep timing carries over into the school week and can cause difficulty falling asleep at proper time during school nights.

Teens should follow basic things to get a good night sleep which helps to improve school performance.

• Teens are advised to sleep for an average of eight to nine hours daily. Do not stay up to late nights for doing school work or for preparing exams.
• If you are not getting sleep for half an hour after going to bed, get out of the bed and do some relaxing activities such as reading a book or listening to music.
• Maintain regular sleep routine. Go to bed at the same time at night get up at same time in the morning.
• Avoid taking naps after coming from school. It will disturb the night time sleep.
• Avoid caffeine three to four hours before going to bed as caffeine acts as a stimulant and keeps you active during night.
• Don’t read or write in your bedroom. Bedroom should be kept only for sleeping. Don’t watch television in bedroom.
• Don’t eat heavy meals before going to bed. Don’t go to bed hungry. Eat light snacks before going to bed.
• Do not exercise three to four hours before going to bed. Exercise in the late afternoon.
• Keep your bedroom calm, quiet, and dark. Temperature of the room should be normal. Make your room dark at night using dim lights. Block outside light.