Revenge bedtime procrastination, or RBP, is defined as intentionally putting aside sleep in order to reclaim personal time for oneself. This often involves doom scrolling on social media or watching television.
“You know, there are so many things that can happen to a body when you don’t have enough sleep,” said OH psychology and social studies teacher Gregorey Verdino. “Things like too much cortisol in the bloodstream [can happen with RBP].”
Many students, including myself, have fallen victim to this phenomenon. When a student’s schedule consists of school, a sport, and a part-time job, the day is no longer theirs. They aim to make up for that at night.
When asked what gets in the way of her sleep schedule, OH senior Angela Hill said, “work, homework, life, [and] TikTok” are the primary culprits that steal her time at night.
The results of late nights followed by early mornings are fairly straightforward. Sleep deprivation links to a negative mental state and many chronic health problems.
OH senior Alyana Barajas said, “the nights I hardly get sleep, I tend to feel very off the next day, and can’t focus very well. It also impacts my motivation to do homework after school, as I just want to get home and sleep.”
Revenge bedtime procrastination is different than simply staying up late. For example, if students had a busy day and had no time to watch their favorite show or relax on TikTok for a while then they will make up for that at night and steal time from sleep.
Intentionally staying awake, knowing the consequences, and doing it anyway is a way of taking revenge on your day. This steals the precious hours that they should’ve been asleep to enjoy personal time.
I am not one to judge for this. There are many nights when sleep wasn’t as important as the episode I wanted to finish. However, the realization hit once I physically couldn’t keep my eyes open in class.
It is especially important for students to sleep the appropriate number of hours each night. The list of benefits is ongoing. Better sleep will improve mood, attentiveness, stress management, and help with judgment. All of the above are more significant than anything that could be done on one’s phone.
Verdino said, “Sleep is one of the most important things to any organism, in terms of both mental health and physical health. Especially if we are talking about students, who, you know, your primary goal as a student, whether teens like to acknowledge it or not, is to learn. The act of learning, if your brain does not have the resources necessary because of lack of sleep, it has a negative impact.”
Barjas agreed. She said, “Sleep is very essential in life. Always ensuring you’re getting the right amount of sleep each night is important not just for your physical health but also for your mental health. I believe that sleep and mental health go hand in hand to ensure emotional regulation, lower risks of anxiety and depression, and lower stress levels.”
Bedtime procrastination can also directly be tied to stress. Stress is a leading issue, especially for high school students.
When asked what might prevent her from getting enough sleep at night, Barjas said, “I would say stress for sure. I often find myself stressed out with school and will stay up late doing assignments.”
It is ironic that students are told sleep is essential for school, but we find ourselves staying up all hours of the night because of assignments.
However, that’s why finding the right balance is important. Managing your time to plan and control all details of your life.
I am a junior staff reporter and Socials Editor for 42Fifty. I love art and music! You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and my putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feekback on our publication.
