BY: Mike DiMatteo
Years ago, I was teaching at a prominent suburban high school outside Chicago—the kind of place where kids don’t generally apply to state colleges, but to Harvard, Yale, even Oxford. (Yes, one of my students went there.)
I had one student, a junior, who was obviously bright. About halfway through the first semester, though, he began taking a nose dive. It wasn’t a crash, more of a slow descent, but his grades were slipping. I spoke with him a few times, even called home, but nothing changed. Finally, when I thought things had gone far enough, I called him into my classroom for a sit-down.
I asked him straight out:
“Are you sleeping enough?”
He looked at me and said, “Yes… I guess.”
There it was. I knew immediately.
“You’re not sleeping much at all, are you?”
“Well, I stay up late sometimes.”
“How late?”
“Sometimes until three or four in the morning.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m gaming. That’s the only time some of the players can be on.”
sigh “Ok, tell me this. Does your mother know this?”
“Well, no. She wouldn’t let me play if she knew.”
“Look, this is important. Not getting any sleep is killing you—and your grades. You have to sleep. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I’ll get some sleep.”
But nothing happened. Things didn’t change. So I called home and spoke with his mother. She was flabbergasted to learn her son was up all night gaming. She told me, in no uncertain terms, she would take care of it.
When the young man came to school the next day, he was furious with me. I didn’t care. I told him it didn’t matter if he was angry—this was bigger than that. He needed to sleep.
Fast forward to second semester. His grades improved, as did our working relationship. Finally, at the end of the school year, he came into my room before class, pulled up a desk, and sat next to me.
“Mr. D, do you know how mad I was at you last semester?”
“Yep. Saw it every day.”
“Did you also see that second semester my grades got better?”
“Yep. Saw that too.”
“I want to thank you, and I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing, staying up so late. I feel so much better now. So… thank you.”
He reached out his hand, we shook, and then he gave me this big grin. I grinned too.
We have an epidemic on our hands—especially with young people. They don’t sleep. Or, if they do, it’s irregular and frequently interrupted.
I can recall at another high school I taught at in the early 2000s, there was a contest among students to see how long they could go without sleep. Even today, if I venture out after 8 p.m. for a grocery run or a late dinner, I’ll see toddlers—babies even—out with their parents at stores or restaurants. Not sleeping.
We’re at a crisis level, and it’s not getting any better.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 8–10 hours of sleep for teens. The reality? Most are getting 6.5 on average. Sleep isn’t optional—it’s imperative. Healthy brain function, memory, mood, cognitive sharpness, and proper circadian rhythms all hinge on it.
Many teens complain of “insomnia,” when in fact what they have is a disrupted circadian rhythm from inconsistent patterns.
The evidence is overwhelming:
- Proper sleep is directly tied to better mood, stronger cognitive performance, and healthier mental states.
- Students who get the right amount of sleep perform better on tests; those who don’t suffer slower processing, more errors, weaker concentration, and erratic moods.
- Studies show that for every hour of sleep under six, a student’s GPA drops by about 0.07.
- Worst of all, sleep deprivation is strongly linked to depression, anxiety, and emotional volatility. Teens become irritable, impulsive, and unstable.
And it doesn’t stop there. Sleep deprivation contributes to metabolic dysfunction, obesity, inflammation, weakened immune systems, and hormonal imbalance. The less sleep students get, the more these problems pile up, compounding like interest on a bad loan.
Some of the causes are obvious:
- Electronic devices used before bed.
- Parents allowing kids to stay up until all hours.
- Irregular schedules and “make-up sleep” on weekends—which doesn’t work. You can’t “catch up” on missed sleep. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
It’s also worth noting: sleep-deprived students often display the same symptoms as ADD/ADHD. The cure in many cases isn’t medication—it’s sleep. Solid, regular, consistent sleep.
School start times get brought up, and while a later start may help some, others just use it as an excuse to go to bed later, negating the benefit. On top of that, many kids are so over-scheduled with sports, practices, and extracurriculars that they’re out until 8 or 9 p.m., then eating, doing homework, and collapsing into bed far too late.
So what’s the solution?
- Parents must take responsibility. Enforce bedtimes. Take devices away at least an hour before bed. No excuses. And forget “sleeping in” on weekends—it just disrupts the rhythm further.
- Educate families. Schools can use newsletters, open houses, and health curricula to emphasize sleep literacy. Parents and students alike need to hear how critical sleep is to health and learning.
- Develop habits early. Parents of younger children must be nearly militant about enforcing sleep patterns. Set the habits when kids are young, and they’ll pay off later.
- Reduce overstimulation. Monitor electronics throughout the day. Kids’ brains never shut down if they’re always on a screen. Give them quiet time. Meditation—even 15 minutes of stillness—has proven benefits.
Sleep is non-negotiable. Students may roll their eyes, brag about pulling all-nighters, or insist they “do fine” on little rest. But the truth is simple and unavoidable: lack of sleep is detrimental—truly detrimental—to their health, development, and future.
Let this be a call to action.
Get. To. Bed.
Works Cited (select key studies & resources)
- “The Effect of Sleep Quality on Students’ Academic Achievement.” PMC, May
- “Sleep in Adolescence: Physiology, Cognition and Mental Health.” PMC, 2014.
- “Teens and Sleep: Why You Need It and How to Get Enough.” PMC, 2008.
- “Sleep and Well-Being and Academic Performance: A Study in…” Frontiers,
- “Adolescents Who Sleep Longer Perform Better at Cognitive Tasks.” Cambridge/ Fudan research.
- “Inconsistent Sleep Patterns in High School Linked to Academic Struggles.”EdWeek, 2024.
- “Nightly Sleep Is Key to Student Success.” Carnegie Mellon news article.
- “What the Science Tells Us About Adolescent Sleep.” Developing Adolescent / UCLA resource.
- “Perspective: Teenagers and the Sleep Paradox.” JCSM (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine).
- “Sleep and Academic Performance: Measuring the Impact of Sleep.” ScienceDirect article.
- “Sleep and Academic Performance: Considering Amount, Quality and Chronotype.” ScienceDirect.
- “Sleep in Adolescents and Young Adults.” PMC, 2018.
- “The Importance of Sleep for Adolescents’ Long-Term Development.” The Lancet, 2022.
