Changing High School Start Times

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Recommended: Significance of Sleep Deprivation to Senior High School Students

In today's society, most people desire success. They want to attend a respected college, earn exceptional grades, get a wonderful job, and make a lot of money. However, the road to success starts before all of those accomplishments can happen. This journey begins in the classroom. In the classroom, over 25% of all high-school students fall asleep one or more times a week (Mayer-Hohdahl 1). Why does this happen? Schools have sleepy students because of their early start times. "Starting high school early is probably one of the worst things you can do as far as timing the day, as far as adolescents being alert or ready" (Wooley 2). This is a serious problem in high schools all across the nation. Students are tired, and teachers are tired of it. Something needs to be done. A change needs to be made in our schools. If schools pushed their start times back an hour or more, there would be significant improvements in the classroom-and in the student.

As Dr. Lynne Keefe states, “Everything is affected by your sleep” (Tammen 2). Think about it. Sleep affects academics, athletics, health, and social aspects of adolescents’ lives (Willey 2). How well we sleep, the quantity of sleep we receive, and at what time we wake up in the morning all have a great influence on our day- and our lives. If one does not sleep long enough it affects their mood, the way they act towards people, and their overall health and well-being (Willey 2). Sleep deprivation causes extreme anxiety, depression, memory deficit, decreased creativity, and decreased ability to accomplish complex tasks and make sound decisions (Willey 2). Teens also have a higher chance to acquire diabetes, heart disease, obesity, depression, and a shortened life span due to lack of...

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...ation is an extremely serious problem in high schools all around the United States. A change needs to be made in our schools. If school is about the students, and making sure they get what they need, then we need to realize that sleep is what they need. If we refuse to do something about this issue, then we will continue to see their lives change. Sleep deprivation affects everything- health, education, and happiness. Some people write off teenagers as being lazy and undetermined, but part of that is our fault. We have seen that their sleep patterns are not the same as adults. We have seen that they are being sleep deprived. We have seen that their health and attitude is all dramatically changed depending on how well they slept that night. Will we refuse to help them succeed in high school? Don;t think about what you want. Remember what our teenagers need: sleep.

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