Sleep is the most important thing to a growing child’s brain and mental health. Doctors say sleep is essential for children’s health and development and teens 13-18 years old should get 8-10 hours of sleep. When people don’t get enough sleep, it makes it harder to focus and learn. Students sleeping habits have a strong effect on their academic performance, mental health, and overall well-being. School starting at 7:15 also affects kids when having to wake up at 5-6am.
I interviewed 3 people on how much sleep they get, times they wake up/ fall asleep, and their opinion on the school times. The first person I asked was Alivia W. I asked her what time she thinks she falls asleep on a school night, and she said, “I fall asleep around 11:30pm-12am”. Alivia wakes up at 6-6:30am and she said, “I get like 5 or 6 hours of sleep”. I also asked her if there was ever a time when you stayed up late just to get schoolwork done and Alivia replied with “yeah”. Alivia said if school started at a later time, she probably would be more awake and prepared because she would go to bed later but then she can sleep in and be more awake during class. She also says she has fallen asleep in class because she didn’t get enough sleep.
Sleep deprivation is something most High school students struggle with. Many teenagers in high school have sports after school making them even more tired. Many might think it is the student’s fault for not going to bed in time, Nationwide children’s hospital says, “After puberty, a teenager’s internal clock shifts, making it harder to fall asleep and wake up on time.” A teenager goes through many changes, especially when becoming a young adult, which is why it’s important for teens to get as much sleep as possible. Studies show that 72.7% of teens have reported insufficient sleep. I interviewed another student at Sunlake high school Star, she says she goes to sleep at 10-11pm and wakes up at 5:21am to get ready for school. She says she gets around 5 hours of sleep and says she has gone to sleep later to complete her schoolwork. Star also said if school had started later she would have been more on time for school and wouldn’t be late every day, but she has never fallen asleep during learning time in class. According to CDC (a official website of the United States government) they say “good sleep is essential for our health and emotional well being.” They also say an adult 18-60 years should be getting 7 or more hours of sleep, which means teenage students are getting the same or less amount of sleep an adult is getting.
The final person I interviewed is Kate D. And she says she goes to sleep at around 11pm and wakes up at 5:30am she gets around 6-7 hours of sleep. Kate says she has never fell asleep during class but she does believe if school started later she would feel more awake and prepared. Kate also said she has stayed up late due to school work she had to complete. According to CDC they say there are health benefits for sleeping such as “lowering risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and chances of strokes”. Sleep also helps” improve heart health, lessen the risk of mother vehicle crashes and related injuries or death, and improves your attention and memory to better preform daily activities” so not only does not sleeping enough lower our mental and emotion well being but it can also increase chances of diseases and death. Not just students struggle with this though, teachers have to wake up even earlier than students to make sure they have their lesson ready and have to stay up late grading papers. I have heard of teachers getting as low as 2 hours of sleep and having to wake up at 4-4:30am. Sleep is a problem for everyone when school starts so early, which is why I believe school should be later. Studies also show, according to “todays parent” say they have confirmed that “after delaying start times for middle schoolers by 50 minutes and high schoolers by 70 minutes, students got more sleep ,more more alert in class and performed better academically.”
In conclusion, the importance of sleep for teenager’s physical, mental, and emotional well being shouldn’t be ignored. With early school times it forces students to wake up before they are fully rested. Many student and teachers struggle with sleep deprivation which impacts their academic performance and health. As shown by students and researchers insufficient sleep is affecting the majority of teens. If school were to start later, students would likely get better sleep, have better focus, and be in a better mood. This would not only improve students sleep but also improve teachers and staff’s sleep who are similar to students when having late and early mornings. It’s clear that adjusting the school schedule would allow more sleep and healthier students and staff.
