Texting at Night May Lead to Lower Grades

Put down your phone and get some sleep…

Why you may ask? Well, this week, in the first study of its kind, a link has been made between instant messaging at night and academic performance.

The study, published in the Journal of Child Neurology was carried out on 1,537 American teenagers from three high schools (one suburban, one urban and one private) in New Jersey.

The researchers found that the students who either turned off their devices whilst in bed or messaged for less than 30 minutes after lights out performed significantly better academically than those who messaged for more than 30 minutes.

Additionally, the students who texted for longer in the dark slept for fewer hours.

Sex differences were also observed. Female students reported higher messaging and yet had higher grades than the male students.

However, an interesting finding of the study was that texting before lights out did not affect the students’ performance in school. Therefore the lead author, Ming, suggests the differences observed between males and females could be due to females texting before lights out.

So why does messaging before bed affect sleep?

The explanation may lie in the blue light emitted from smartphones. The light is intensified when viewed in the dark. This can delay melatonin (a hormone controlled in sleep and wake cycles) release making it more difficult to fall asleep.

This blue light may also have an impact through closed eyes.

Ming explains that if a person continually receives messages during the night this can disrupt the circadian rhythm. If sleep is delayed and rising is not learning and memory are impaired.

Sleep deprivation is also a case for support for later start times in high schools.

So if you must message before bed – keep the light on or suffer the consequences!

Art: Inez Januszczak