Sleep v. Homework: The Ultimate Lakeside Dilemma

We’ve all been there. That moment when you look at the clock. It’s 9:57 pm. The math test is tomorrow, and you forgot to prepare. To study, or not to study? That is the question that every student faces, whether getting ready for a test or simply finishing an assignment. The yearning for sleep mixing with the guilt of unfinished homework is a feeling we know all too well. 

It is generally agreed upon that teenagers need eight to ten hours of sleep per night.1 Any less can lead to numerous problems; any more is a blessed gift. But for students trying to balance homework, sports, and other extracurricular activities, eight to ten can sometimes feel completely unattainable. However, you must listen closely: this is advice coming from a wizened old eighth grader.2 YOU are more important than your homework. Just as a missed goal in soccer doesn’t sum up all of your skill, a single letter grade doesn’t determine your self-worth. The extra hour of sleep you get is going to be a lot more helpful to both your brain and your body than the extra hour of homework. 

The amount of eighth graders who reported feeling sleep deprived ‘0 to 2’ days a week or ‘always’ was really high. That’s rough, but at least we have a reason. On average, eighth graders at Lakeside get seven to eight hours of sleep on a school night.3 This, combined with about one to two hours of homework each night, leads to almost seventy percent of eighth graders feeling burnt out by the end of the week. Houston, we have a problem. 

And eighth graders: if you think this is bad, just wait till high school. 

Okay, this article is getting kind of depressing. But wait! Not to sound like another Super Bowl commercial trying to convince you to buy a useless product, but there is a way to avoid this. YOU decide when to prioritize YOU. Your homework is important, but your mental health is even more important. According to Dr. Noam Shpancer, “Mental health…is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.” Drive carefully now, because if you crash, it's going to take a long time to repair the damage. Or, as Finnick Odair says in Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins, “It takes ten times longer to put yourself back together than it does to fall apart.” 

So now the next obstacle: parents and guardians. I have heard many anecdotes about parents’ pressure on their kids for grades, tests, and homework assignments. My one piece of advice: talk to them. This is your life. Prepare your points, listen to their side, and make sure they have enough time to fully focus on you. They care about you as well as your grades. Don’t forget that. 

Lastly, many of you are thinking about college. Don’t deny it. It’s true. (I have been kind of secretly gathering info from my grade about this - sorry if you are just now realizing that was you.) But your grades now won’t affect your college experience. The extra sleep now will be far more beneficial than another A. Don’t take my word for it: here are the facts. According to Harvard Medical School, inadequate sleep can lead to more difficulty learning and retaining information. And according to the Cleveland Clinic, it can take several days to recover from really bad sleep. Also, according to CollegeBoard.org, most colleges don’t look at your grades until junior or senior year (although your freshman and sophomore years can affect your GPA). And according to the math teachers at Lakeside, every student is on course to take calculus by senior year. So don’t borrow from future worry.

So email your teacher, close your computer, spend time with your family, and get some sleep. You won’t regret it.

P.S. Read my footnotes.

1: Also, according to the Cleveland Clinic, ages 6-12 should be getting even more.

2: I admit, this is pretty much how I thought of them until this year - and it turns out we’re not actually that old. But you should still listen.

3: This is actually pretty good, and could be enough for some people, but combined with the amount of homework and stress Lakeside students face, it is still something to keep an eye on.