Why High School Should Start Later Essay

A question that most school districts have recently been discussing is, do middle schools and high schools start classes too early in the morning? As a student, I am concerned with the effects of waking up too early and not getting the amount of sleep that my body needs. In order for teenagers to get their needed eight to nine hours of sleep every night, schools should start thirty to sixty minutes later than they do now. Well rested students will be following their natural sleep patterns, perform better academically, and will have a healthier mindset. With a selective schedule we will be able to work around bus schedules and extracurricular activities to accommodate for a new and improved bell time. Delaying the morning bell will give teenagers

Most people believe that teenagers learn better in the mornings, but that is not true. Danny Lewin, a sleep specialist at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C. says that, "Adolescents have a deeply programmed biological [clock] to go to bed later and wake later. As kids get older, their sleep-wake cycle shifts so it's difficult for them to turn in before 11 p.m. Teens are wired to be night owls” (Herrington 2). Evie Blad puts this into great perspective by saying, “...requiring an older teenager to wake up at 7 a.m. is like asking a teacher to wake up at 4:30 a.m” (Blad 1). On top of this biological clock, students also have homework, jobs, extracurricular activities, and other social demands that make it even harder for teens to go to bed before 11 p.m. The need to be on ones cell phone or watch television contributes to this loss of sleep as well. Teenagers force themselves to go to bed at a decent time to get a good amount of sleep so they won’t be exhausted in class the next day. Even when they go to bed at a decent time they won’t fully fall asleep until that sleep wake cycle