If you walked into school this morning powered only by caffeine and sheer willpower, you’re not alone. According to Italian national surveys 45% of adolescents report not getting enough sleep. Experts say much of this comes from modern lifestyle habits, like using screens late at night, having poor quality sleep, and having fewer hours of sleep than what’s recommended. While you might think sleep is optional, just know that your brain strongly disagrees. 

When teens skip sleep, the brain’s ability to focus drops fast. Teachers see it everyday. In Italy about 49.3% of teens report sleeping less than 8 hours on school nights, resulting in students reading slower, processing information less efficiently, and struggling to stay engaged, but most of all those sleep deprived brains have major difficulties storing new information, meaning those late night cram sessions often work against you.

With little sleep, the emotional centers of the brain become more reactive. Small annoyances feel bigger, stress hits harder, and patience becomes rare. 77% of 14 – 19 year olds say that they feel more irritable, experience more mood swings and have increased anxiety. Sleep loss affects physical safety too. Scientific comparisons have found that tired driving can slow reaction time as much as driving under the influence. For new drivers, that delayed response can turn a normal journey into an unsafe and risky one 

If you’re a student that’s aiming for strong IB scores or top IGCSE grades, you’ll heavily depend on memory, reasoning, and sustained focus, all functions that sleep directly boosts. Teens who maintain a healthy sleep schedule consistently perform better on tasks that require analyzing texts, solving multi step problems, and recalling detailed information. Sleep isn’t just rest, it’s part of your academic strategy. 

You want to fix your sleep but don’t know how to fix this? Have you lost all hope? Well don’t, because you can fix it with simple habits:

• Switch off your phone 30 minutes before bed → blue light is a sleep killer 
• Keep your bedroom calm and cool → a little darkness helps your brain relax 
• Try a sleep schedule even on weekends → consistency makes a big difference 
• Quit drinking drinks with caffeine late at night → a soda after dinner may seem harmless, but it will keep you up in the long run

Sleep isn’t just something your parents nag you about, it’s essential. Getting enough sleep isn’t optional, so ensure that for your future success you get just the amount of sleep you need to function, or even better, get even more.