Should High School Start Later?

Beep. Beep. Beep. There’s that dreadful noise of the alarm clock again. Face it: Nobody likes waking up early, especially teenagers. I believe that all high schools should start later than they regularly do. If high schools started later than 8:00 A.M, studies show that it would greatly benefit society, especially the high school students themselves. The main problem with schools starting early is sleep deprivation of teens. Studies show that high schools starting earlier than 8:00 A.M. can cause students to have a disordered sleep schedule. Teenagers need a minimum amount of eight to nine hours of sleep a day. Getting up early can cause students to feel lazy, tired, and disoriented throughout the rest of the school day. 33% of teenagers claim that

Knowing that he or she will have extra time to sleep in the morning, a student’s homework grades or grades in general will improve because he or she will have more time to get things done. “When schools have delayed the start of the school day, communities have seen reduced tardiness, sleeping in class, and car crash rates, as well as improved attendance, graduation rates, and standardized test scores” (Wake 1). This greatly demonstrates the overall benefits to a student’s health and education. Their grades will also improve because they will be fully awake and “everybody learns better when they’re awake” (Richmond 1). In conclusion, if high schools started even just an hour or half an hour later than 8:00 A.M, it would greatly benefit everyone, especially the high school students. Studies show that it would greatly impact society if every school in the United States followed the guidelines of a later starting time to promote a prolonged sleep schedule for students, adults, and drivers. So hit that snooze button and remember that sleep is