Why our school should start later in the day

By: Abigail Holtz

Everyone can agree that everyday when we wake up to get ready for school we really just want to go back to bed. However, we all have to struggle to get awake and get ready to go to school. Some people even have a hard time staying awake in class. What would it be like for those students that either can’t get sleep at home because of family issues or just don’t have enough time to get adequate sleep because they are in sports and clubs and have to do homework on top of that?

If we had more time in the morning to sleep in, don't you think that these kids that struggle with getting the right amount of sleep at night would actually be well rested for the day and more attentive to what they are learning in class? I think they would. According to Urton James, “ In a paper published Dec. 12 in the journal Science Advances, researchers at the University of Washington, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies announced that teens at two Seattle high schools got more sleep on school nights after start times were pushed later- a median increase of 34 minutes of sleep each night. This boosted the total amount of sleep on school nights for students from a median of six hours and 50 minutes, under the earlier start time, to seven hours and 24 minutes under the later start time”(Urton).

This study shows proof that if we all started school just an hour later, kids would be getting the right amount of sleep they need. They wouldn’t have to struggle to get everything done that needs to be taken care of for school or worry about getting enough sleep.

Urton James says, “Scientists generally recommend that teenagers get eight to ten hours of sleep each night. But early-morning social obligations — such as school start times — force adolescents to either shift their entire sleep schedule earlier on school nights or truncate it. Certain light-emitting devices — such as smartphones, computers and even lamps with blue-light LED bulbs — can interfere with circadian rhythms in teens and adults alike, delaying the onset of sleep, de la Iglesia said. According to a survey of youth released in 2017 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only one-quarter of high school age adolescents reported sleeping the minimum recommended eight hours each night”(Urton).

Developing teens need at least eight hours of sleep a night, but very few actually get even close to that amount of sleep. With teens’ brains at the crucial developmental stage in their lives it is even more important that they get the amount of sleep that their body needs. If we don’t develop to our fullest there could be a world of consequences for our future that is untold.

That is why the school system should change their start time for the betterment of their students and for the world. Our future could hang on something as seemingly small as how much sleep our future teens get while going to school.

https://www.washington.edu/news/2018/12/12/high-school-start-times-study/

“Teens Get More Sleep, Show Improved Grades and Attendance with Later School Start Time, Researchers Find.” UW News, https://www.washington.edu/news/2018/12/12/high-school-start-times-study/. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022