I copypasted a couple points of benefits of sleep / harms of lack of sleep, but not the elaborations and reasons; check the article/website out for the rest + more info!
Benefits of sleep: - Your body is able to repair connections between nerve cells depending on the amount of deep sleep and REM sleep you get ... (check the website for a much longer explanation) - Obviously, if you sleep more, you will feel more awake and energetic during the day, which positively affects your mood, productivity, mental capabilities, and physical state. - Your body repairs itself during sleep ...(read more on website) - Growth hormones are released in sleep, making sleep vital to children, but the hormones also stimulate muscle repair for everybody. - There are more benefits to sleep that are suspected, but they are less certain. Some of these include ... (read more on website)
Harms of lack of sleep: - Stress (physical and mental): your body functions are stimulated to a higher level, so blood pressure may increase, you may feel your heart beating faster and feel lightheaded when you stand up, etc. - Less concentration ... (read more on website) - Bad memory ... - Impaired coordination and reflexes ... - Bad mood and irrational behavior ... - Trouble forming sentences and processing information ... - Low immunity ... - Sleepiness: obviously. Nobody wants to be drowsy or nodding off when there are things to do or teachers to not anger.