The Harris Poll^® #24, April 23, 2003

Many High School Students Do Not Get Enough Sleep – And Their Performance Suffers

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by Humphrey Taylor and Dana Markow

"Sleep, I need sleep." This tenth grade boy whom we surveyed states what many of his high school peers believe, and is the view of educators and parents of high school students as well. In the busy daily lives of high school students, getting a good night’s sleep often falls to the bottom of the "To Do" list. Yet sleeplessness may have serious consequences. This Harris Poll provides powerful evidence that sleep deprivation is widespread among high school students and appears to be a major cause of poor academic performance.

Most high school students get less than eight hours of sleep on school nights and one-third get less than seven. Those who get enough sleep do better in school, and vice-versa. Students who get less sleep are not only much more likely to fall asleep or daydream in class and to have difficulty paying attention, they are also much more likely to get poor grades and more likely to consider dropping out of school.

These are some of the findings from a nationwide survey of a cross section of 2,308 students in grades 7 through 12 conducted in school and online between March and April 2002 by Harris Interactive^® as part of the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher series.

While it is important to remember that a statistical correlation does not establish cause and effect, the evidence that sleep deprivation adversely affects the performance of millions of high school students is very strong. There is both objective and subjective evidence. The generally accepted view is that they should get at least eight hours sleep each night. Only 40% of high school students say they get this much sleep the night before going to school, while 33% say they get less than seven hours, including 12% who get less than six hours of sleep. Furthermore most high school students (64%) believe that, in general, they do not get enough sleep.

Those who feel they don’t get enough sleep are far more likely than those who feel they do get enough sleep to say that they often have difficulty waking up in the morning (70% vs. 37%), feel tired during classes (64% vs. 34%), daydream in class (48% vs. 31%) or fall asleep in class (15% vs. 7%).

Furthermore, all of these characteristics – feeling tired, daydreaming, falling asleep and sleeping less than seven hours on school nights - are much more common among students who get poor grades than they are with students who get better grades. Compared to students who mostly get "A’s", those who mostly get "D’s" or "F’s" are more likely to daydream often (60% vs. 39%), to fall asleep often (27% vs. 10%), and to often have difficulty paying attention in class (58% vs. 23%).

Students today do have busy schedules. Students who get enough sleep are more likely than sleep-deprived students to believe that their extracurricular activities help them do well in school. In contrast, sleep-deprived students are more likely to view participation in activities as a hindrance to academic achievement. But those who participate in group activities are more likely to get good grades than those who do not. For example, students who get mostly "D’s" and "F’s" participate much less than "A " students in sports (26% vs. 56%), in dance or music programs (8% vs. 30%), in schoolwork programs (5% vs. 16%) and in drama programs (3% vs. 15%). Sleep deprived children not only do less well in school, they also are less likely to participate in group activities.

Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University and the editor of "Adolescent Sleep Patterns," has said that sleep deprived students "may be in school, but their brains are at home on their pillows." She notes in her book that lack of sleep in animals is associated with "marked increases in aggressive behavior and violence." Sleep deprivation has also been associated with increased risk of auto accidents and a weakened immune system.

Trying to figure out why some children get less sleep than others is not easy, but the results of this survey offer a lot of suggestive clues. Sleep deprived high school students have less happy family lives, and feel lonely and bored more often than their peers. They are more likely to report having problems with their families, and that they often feel nervous or stressed. They spend more time at home when their parents are not there, and are less likely to eat meals with their parents; they more often eat meals alone. They are less likely to have a quiet place to do their homework. They are no more likely than other students to do work for pay, but, if they do work, they do so for longer hours. Affluence or poverty do not seem to be related to sleep deprivation.

While the science may be soft in places, it is clear that sleep deprivation adversely affects the health, happiness and educational achievements of millions of high school students. This should be a problem the nation can address. And, unlike most other ways of improving the education of our children, it should not require large sums of money.

Humphrey Taylor is chairman of The Harris Poll^®, and Dana Markow, PhD., is director of youth and education research, Harris Interactive^®.

HOW MANY HOURS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SLEEP

"On a typical school night (Sunday through Thursday), how many hours of sleep do you get?

Base: High school students (grades 7-12)

PROPORTION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO EXPERIENCE VARIOUS PROBLEMS – BY SLEEP AND GRADES

Base: High school students (grades 7-12)

PROPORTIONS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO DO/HAVE VARIOUS THINGS – BY SLEEP AND GRADES

Base: High school students (grades 7-12)

This survey was conducted in school and online by Harris Interactive within the United States between March 7 and April 19, 2002 among a nationwide cross section of 2,308 public school students in grades 7 through 12. Data were weighted to reflect the national population of public school students in grades 7 through 12 for key demographic variables: grade, gender, race, size of place (urban, suburban or rural) and region.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. The online was not a probability sample.

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