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Why Sleep Matters for Teens
by Beth Creswell Wilson '96, PhD, Associate Head of School for Academics, Head of Upper School
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Last spring, our students participated in the Challenge Success Survey, developed by researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. The results highlighted a strong correlation for our girls between lack of sleep and feelings of stress and overwhelm. Students who reported sleeping fewer than eight hours per night were also less engaged in school. These findings affirm the importance of prioritizing sleep as a fundamental part of student well-being and academic success, but research has also shown many more reasons.
Quality sleep is essential for the profound changes that occur during the teen years, from physical development to social-emotional changes. Supporting cognitive function, sleep promotes attention, memory, and analytical thinking. It allows young people’s brains to consolidate learning and enhances creative problem-solving. Emotional well-being also depends on sleep, as insufficient rest can lead to irritability, heightened emotional responses, and increased stress. Beyond mental health, sleep supports overall physical health by strengthening the immune system, regulating hormones, and allowing for muscle and tissue recovery. It also helps prevent physical danger as a result of risk-taking; a lack of sleep can impair the development of the brain’s frontal lobe, which is crucial for impulse control and decision-making. Sleep-deprived teens are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, such as unsafe driving or substance use.
How the Challenge Is Going
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), adolescents should get 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night to support optimal health. Ms. Waldorf and Ms. Santos have found that, for some of our girls in this challenge, getting their 8 to 10 hours comes easily, but many others need support and strategies as they pursue their goal. During the challenge, we've seen many students discussing sleep with one another, engaging openly and honestly about obstacles, sharing tips, and encouraging each other to promote better sleep. Overall, we've seen students' investment in prioritizing sleep. Anecdotally, teachers of the eighth and 10th grades have even reported to the counselors that they've seen increased engagement in class during the weeks of the challenge!
Supporting Healthy Sleep Habits at Home
Even as students grow more independent, parents and guardians play a crucial role in fostering healthy sleep routines by modeling good habits, enforcing consistent sleep schedules, and creating an environment conducive to rest. While academic demands, cocurricular activities, and family commitments all play a role in students' schedules, we encourage families to work toward making sleep a priority. Here are some strategies to support better sleep habits:
- Establish a consistent sleep schedule – Encourage your daughter to go to bed and wake up at approximately the same time each day, including weekends.
- Create a relaxing pre-bed routine – Reading, listening to music, journaling, taking a bath, or practicing mindfulness or prayer can help ease the transition to sleep.
- Limit caffeine and energy drinks – Avoiding these, especially in the afternoon and evening, can improve sleep quality.
- Reduce screen time before bed – Many of our sophomores shared that they charge their devices in their rooms and use them late into the night. Research shows that screen exposure before bed can decrease both sleep duration and quality. We encourage students to put away electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime and charge devices outside their bedrooms.
As always, we are invested in helping GPS girls develop into healthy, well-rounded, successful young women, and we continue to seek new ways to support them in doing so. The sleep challenge is just one example, and we appreciate your partnership as we encourage positive choices and habits in our students.
