Exams… they are a big part of your lives in your teens, but is it good for them to be doing them?
Exams and revision tend to force teenagers to stay up later and potentially get up earlier in order to complete the amount of work they have to do. At a time when teens’ body clocks are adjusting and they need more sleep, this is not a good idea. But what is there to do? If teens don’t put in those extra hours of work and revision, it will affect their exam results. But so will getting less sleep.
Having to do more work and revision means that teens have to spend more time sitting down, resulting in them getting less exercise. This is not good for neither their physical health nor their brain.
For me, I wake up at 6am and I go to bed at 10pm. Before I started having exams, I used to get up at 7am and go to bed at 9:30pm. I had to get up earlier so that I could arrive at school earlier to study in the library before lessons started. I go to bed later so that I have enough time to finish my homework and revision before having some down time. However, as I get closer to exams and tests, I get less down time. This, coupled with a lack of sleep, leads to me feeling tired at school and not fulfilling my full potential.
Since the tough new GCSE course came in, studies have shown that increased exam time (by 8 hours altogether) is taking its toll on pupils’ mental health. School leaders have commented that they’re seeing greater levels of anxiety and stress in students.
For teens everywhere, having exams to prepare for means having to have less down time and less sleep. Surely, at a time when teens’ brains are maturing and developing, they shouldn’t be made to strain through lack of sleep and less down time?
