Later school start time

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Recommended: Sleep among teens

Americans are in an epidemic of sleep deprivation, and teens seem to be right in the middle of it. The many consequences that teens face from lack of sleep are disheartening. The constant difficulty of getting up in the morning, falling asleep in classes during the school day, and difficulty remembering things or concentrating are things that don't need to be present in a teens life (Our). One simple action can be taken; start school at a later time. High school students should have later start times because kids biologically perform better during later times of the day due to their internal clocks and it can improve their long term physical health.
“Given that the primary focus of education is to maximize human potential, then a new task before us is to ensure that the conditions in which learning takes places address the very biology of our learners,” says Mary Carskadon (Backgrounder). Sleep deprivation in teens is largely driven by a conflict between teens’ internal biological clocks and the demanding school schedules. A study by Judith Owens who is the director of the pediatric sleep clinic at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, explains that biological changes in teenagers’ circadian rhythms causes a shift in sleep onset and wake times. “On a practical level this means that the average adolescent has difficulty falling asleep before 11 p.m. ,” Dr. Owens said (Dooren). Teens need at least nine hours of sleep at night, which ideally would call for an 8 am wake up time, and for most students, they need to be to school by that time. The study included about 200 students and found many benefits that came from a shift in the school-start time. Students had about 30 more minutes of sleep in the morning and found to be going to bed around ...

... middle of paper ...

... be waking up early, unlike school, which demands you to wake up at an early time.
It’s obvious that overall, later school start times would result in many benefits. Not only will it allow students to perform better, but it will also help them in their long term health. Why would you not want students to reach their full potential and do the best that they can do. A little more sleep can lead to a lot more success.

Works Cited

"Backgrounder: Later School Start Times." Later School Start Times: Benefits & Cons. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
Dooren, Jennifer C. "Later Start to School Boosts Teens' Health." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"Our Town Silverton Mt Angel Scotts Mills RSS. Mt Angel Publishing, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
"Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times." Sleeping Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

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