According to the National Sleep Foundation, 87 percent of high school students get less than the recommended eight to nine hours of sleep. This is largely due to school beginning early in the morning.
The Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement on Aug. 25 requesting school districts move start times to 8:30 a.m. or later for middle schools and high schools, so that students can get the necessary amount of sleep.
Currently 15 percent of high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later and 40 percent of schools start earlier than 8:30 a.m. Since then, the start of school time has been a part of conversation nationwide.
While some students and teachers desire more sleep and are advocates of a later start time, others see it as a potential problem.
Freshman Lila Leonard juggles an after school job, play rehearsals, orchestra and hours of homework. With all of these activities, Leonard only gets a few hours of sleep and feels the effects during the day.
“I would want school to start the same time as middle school starts [8:45 a.m.], because right now I only get three hours of sleep a night” Leonard said.
While some students believe the start of school time should be pushed back, others believe it should remain the same.
Sophomore Michael Hamilton participates in all honors and advanced classes, yearbook, piano lessons and tennis.
“It doesn’t really matter if school starts later because the lack of sleep I get is due to having so much to do,” says Hamilton. “If school starts later it is just going to make me stay up later.”
According to the National Sleep Foundation, not getting enough sleep can lead to the inability to learn, listen and concentrate in school, as well as forgetting information such as names, numbers and homework.
The reality is that adolescents are still developing and growing, which means a lack of sleep is harmful to a teenager’s health.
“Sleep problems in childhood are known to be predictive of the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms as the child matures”. Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom, director of the National Sleep Study, and professor at the University of Minnesota said.
According to her, lack of sleep during teenage years is damaging to a child and can result in serious side effects later on.
English teacher Melanie Miller is a proponent of school beginning later in the morning.
“I personally would love to start school later.” Miller said. “I just don’t know logistically how the school districts would figure it out because of things like parents getting their kids to school.”
Perhaps getting little hours of sleep is just a part of being a teenager.
Senior Akshay Dinakar is the founder of Knee Hockey Club, co-president of the art club, an editor on the Freelancer, a member of NHS and takes AP classes.
“One of my general goals in life is to reach an insane level of optimization. I think that it is one of the purposes of human existence — to try and be as efficient as possible.” Dinakar said. “We only have a certain amount of years to live, so what I tend to do is I just make long schedules for myself and plan out what I am doing every night”.
Time management plays an important role in a teenager’s life. How else is anyone going to come home from swim team, practice piano and then study for their Chemistry test the next day? It takes a diligent worker, a good work ethic and a lot of energy to get everything done.
A large portion of teenagers across the nation desperately need more sleep. Whether this is accomplished with a later school start time, or students need to take on less activities, sleep is definitely a necessary proponent.
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