Doctors and teachers warn students against staying up late on the night of the exam

Doctors and teachers have warned of the harm of students staying up late studying, especially with the approaching end-of-year exams, pointing out that continuing to stay up late to increase cognitive achievement affects concentration and is counterproductive, as the body needs hours of nightly sleep ranging between six and eight hours, stressing that The importance of sleeping well on the night of the exam to achieve better performance and concentration. While the Ministry of Education warned against staying up all night before exams, noting that the UAE education system does not seek to establish the concept of memorization on the night of the exam, especially since it considers the test a tool for measuring the student’s self-learning skills, and not a means of competition between students in which the one who is able to memorize the largest amount of The curriculum, so the student must not exhaust his effort in staying up late and memorizing.

In detail, internists, Ahmed Hassan Fayyad, Khaled Ismail, Karam Sedqi, and Hala Riad, confirmed that the common belief among students and their families that staying up late studying on the night of the exam has a positive effect is a false belief, because lack of sleep on the night of the exam negatively affects the student’s performance, and causes Lack of concentration and memory, slow reaction time, and difficulty retrieving information and making correct decisions. As a result of increased anxiety, this may develop into an imaginary feeling of illness, such as abdominal pain or headaches. Or inability to move.

They pointed out that lack of sleep reduces the brain’s higher functions and its ability to think, memorize and integrate acquired information, which affects students’ academic achievement and their performance in school, especially in tasks that require concentration, such as exams. In addition, lack of sleep increases the state of stress and anxiety, which affects the student’s concentration. .

They said: “Sleep disturbance leads to a lack of ability to achieve academic achievement and perform well, as staying up late distracts the student’s mind, so the information he memorizes interferes with what he previously remembered,” noting the necessity of the student getting a period of deep sleep so that the body can rest. It helps nerve cells restore their balance, stabilizes brain functions, and returns neurotransmitters to their normal level, which helps the mind retrieve information.

The doctors called on the students not to sleep for long hours during the day so that they do not have to stay up at night, and to avoid consuming stimulants such as tea, coffee, and energy drinks, and to try to clear the mind to help the brain retrieve information, stressing that sleep is not only necessary for resting the body, but is vital for memory. .

While teachers, Yahya Marzouk, Muhammad Fikri, Muhammad Hajjaj, Bassem Al-Azzazi, Yassin Mamdouh, Ali Suleiman, Nahed Al-Sharafi, and Alia Hamed, confirmed that before the exams, they organize meetings with students to make them aware of the importance of the body getting a sufficient amount of rest before taking the exam, and explain to them the harms. Staying up late and drinking energy drinks and stimulants.

They indicated that they educate students during these meetings that staying up late increases anxiety about the exam, which affects the student’s self-confidence and results in a decline in his academic achievement. They point out that they stress to the students the necessity of getting an adequate period of sleep before the exam, ranging between seven and eight hours. Sleep less at night, so that both the body and brain can perform their functions normally.

They pointed out that students are aware that not getting enough sleep during the night causes a decline in their academic performance, and that lack of sleep negatively affects their concentration and weakens their memory. However, a large percentage of students do not sleep on the night of the exam, as they become anxious and continue to decline in the curriculum throughout. night, stressing the need for parents to intervene and force their children to go to bed early and wake up at dawn to use the hours before the exam to review.

It is worth noting that the Minister of Education, Hussein Ibrahim Al-Hammadi, criticized school students staying up all night to study and review subjects before exams, considering that this habit represents an educational defect that is not commensurate with what the country’s education system seeks to achieve.

6 wrong habits

Social workers in public and private schools, Uday Taha, Mustafa Adly, Nasser Ezzedine, Maryam Abdullah, and Salma Hani, identified six bad habits that students should avoid before exams to avoid their impact on their concentration and ability to comprehend, which included: waking up and staying up all night for consecutive days until the exam time. For the purpose of studying, which results in stress, forgetting information, inability to concentrate, scattered thoughts, and drinking a lot of stimulant drinks during the study period, such as coffee. Nescafe and tea, linking them to concentration and waking up, not exercising, studying in a crowded place or with loud songs, stopping playing electronic games and spending time in front of the Internet, in addition to not entering into discussions with colleagues about the curriculum and the most important lessons so as not to increase anxiety rates.
They advised the students to organize and manage their study time, avoid staying up late, and be sure to sleep and wake up early.

• Staying up late increases anxiety about the exam, affects the student’s self-confidence, and leads to a decline in his academic achievement.

• Doctors called on students not to sleep for long hours during the day so that they do not have to stay up at night and to avoid taking stimulants.