The first class in the day can often be a fraught affair. Students may come bleary eyed and hungry, and teachers have to deal with yawns and glazed looks. I remember being distracted one entire semester by a student who sat in the front seat and more often than not, nodded off even before I could start speaking. As a young lecturer, I couldn’t help wondering if it was my fault. While the class may be redeemed by a minority that is wide awake and adequately fed, several sleepy students and an anxious or irritated teacher aren’t necessarily the ideal combination for learning.
Sleep deprivation is one of the major challenges for college students everywhere, and particularly so for those who live on residential campuses with a fair amount of freedom and no lights-out policy. Medical colleges and IITs are notorious for students pulling all-nighters for days at a stretch, sometimes using chemicals of various kinds to stay awake. In some cases, the workload is such that students feel compelled to push themselves to work long hours. But in others, it is more of a social pressure and that most millennial of anxieties — the fear of missing out — that makes sleep a low priority.
Quantity matters
Health writer Jane Brody, in a recent New York Times article, noted that adequate sleep is one of the most important markers of a successful college experience, citing studies that have shown that the quality and quantity of sleep are linked to academic performance. Most parents, when sending their adult children off to college, worry about the possibility of alcohol or drug abuse, and often spend a lot of time counselling them about such issues. Rarely, however, do we worry about abusing the circadian rhythm.
College can be an exciting time. The temptation to do it all, and stay awake through it all is just too great. The combination of social and academic demands can make the 24-hour day seem way too short. And then there is social media. The fact that libraries on many campuses stay open late makes it possible to work late, and so, students end up pulling all-nighters to complete papers or finish their reading. Outcome: those yawns and bleary eyes in morning classes.
There’s a certain romance associated with working late into the night, collaborating on projects over midnight chai and noodles, and these are certainly experiences that one wouldn’t want to argue away. But if one also has to be in a class early in the morning, too many of those late nights can become a problem. Of course, if you have a flexible schedule, you can catch up on your sleep in the day and be ready for another late night…but unfortunately, most academic institutions require students to show up during the day. Clearly, something has to give, and that something is usually your sleep. So why not choose your all-nighters — whether social or academic — and space them out, so that you give your body and mind the rest they need?
The author teaches at the University of Hyderabad and edits Teacher Plus. usha.bpgll@gmail.com
