Why school should start later
By Chandler Pilipis
Wake up, sleepy head!
As you might know, teens like to sleep. They sleep in on weekends, do not want to get up in the morning, and sometimes even sleep in class. However, recent studies have shown that it is actually not their fault. The problem is, according to the a 6 year study from the CDC, the small amount of sleep that they get when they need 9-10 hours of sleep! You would imagine that teens need to get to bed earlier, but for numerous reasons, they cannot. What needs to change is how early school starts. School needs to start later because it is difficult for teens to go to bed earlier, and good sleep is so important that humanity, especially teens, just cannot "do without" it if they hope to do well.
Teen Sleep: Trapped in a Corner?
Although most middle schools start around 7:00am, many adolescents have to get up at 6:00am to wake up, eat breakfast, brush their teeth, get dressed, etc. As a result, it would be ideal for teens to get to bed at 9:00 pm. However, according to sleep foundation.org, teens have an irregular sleep schedule, and although someone may argue that teens need to adapt to sleeping earlier, teens just can't. Because of their biological clocks, it is difficult for an adolescent to fall asleep before 11:00 at night. Because of this, schools need to adapt. Teens who do not get enough sleep have a hard time focusing, and taking in what they learn. It also effects memory, the immune system, weight, and even emotional health,Val of which schools are trying to keep at good levels. If you do not give students the best sleep you can give they litteraly cannot give the best effort they can, no matter how much they want to and are trying to.
Few are snoozing, yet many are losing!
Sleep deprivation for teens is not just on the rise... It is flying sky high! According to the same 6 year CDC study from earlier, teens loss more sleep as they progress through highschool. By their senior year, 95% of them are far from the 9 hour minimum for sleep. All those people are having to look back at what they have read 4 or 5 times to memorize somthing, being unable to listen to what the teacher is saying, and are getting headaches and being sick more often. No wonder school is not going well for most people!