Colgate’s efforts to educate caffeine-hungry students about the pitfalls of pulling all-nighters and the need for more shuteye were featured this week in a Times Higher Education (UK) article.
The British magazine highlighted last year’s “Come to Bed” event, which was part of a sleep awareness program sponsored by the university’s Wellness Initiative.
In April, about 250 students, many of them wearing pajamas, were invited to nap in the Hall of Presidents while listening to sleep-inducing sounds. As the article noted, they were also treated to a bedtime story read by Charlotte Johnson, vice president and dean of the college.
“Maybe we got one or two people to think, ‘I can do this or I can adjust that,'” Jane Jones, coordinator of alcohol and drug education who helped organize the event, told the newspaper.
As for college students’ caffeine cravings, Jones said consuming excessive amounts only adds to their sleep-deprivation problems.
In the article, she went on to describe what she calls “two groups of sleep offenders:” overachievers who have never been taught balance and those who have always achieved good grades without working particularly hard.
“Then they come to college and it sneaks up on them that that paper is due. So they’ll start doing all-nighters. What they’re learning is how to pass. You don’t have any mastery of the topic.”
For more coverage of Colgate in the News, click here.