What time do you wake up and get ready for school? Let’s say you went to sleep at the same time you usually do on a school night during the weekend. Would you wake up at that same time or much later? Most likely your answer is you wouldn’t. You would wake up later even if it’s only by an hour or two and that’s what I’m going to be talking about: why school should start at a later time and how the starting time affects students.
How much sleep should students be getting?
During the week I usually go to sleep by 10:45 at night. I wake up around 5 in the morning to get ready and get to school by 6:50am. This gives me around five to six hours of sleep. CDC Sleep says the recommended amount of sleep for teenagers 13 to 17 years of age is 8 to 10 hours. The amount of teenagers who actually get enough sleep is only 27%. While seven out of ten students don’t get enough.
How schools changing their starting time can benefit students’ health.
With school starting so early in the morning it can affect students’ health not only mentally but also physically. In sleepjunkie.com it states ”A 2018 study involving 690 teenagers explored the connection between sleep and mental health, revealing that those with sleep difficulties were significantly more likely to struggle with mental health issues compared to their well-rested peers”. This helps prove that if students start school later they are able to sleep longer and go to school with a better mood. Which would have a better impact on their mental health compared to starting school earlier. Most days when I go to school I personally find myself in a less positive mood than on days when I don’t wake up at 5 in the morning.
Sleep impacts your physical health just as much as it impacts your mental health. Whether you are in a sport or not, your physical health is really important. It’s what helps you get through your daily activities. The benefits of getting enough sleep helps your body function, live longer, fight illness, stay energized, and develop as you get older. If you don’t get enough sleep you’ll feel less motivated to do things like your school work, have enough energy to get through the day, play sports or work after school.
Some people might think that school starting at a later time would take up more of students and teachers time. If school started later the downside is that you would get out later. This could mess up life outside of school because students wouldn’t have as much time to go to clubs, work or go to practice if they are in a sport. The disadvantages for teachers are they would have to stay after school even later, would have less time to spend with their family before night, and would have to adjust their entire schedule outside of school. Yes, all those things are true; however, overall there are more benefits than disadvantages that makes it worth it.
School should start later than 7am in the morning. If school started later, students would get more sleep, they would focus more, and they would have more motivation to do their assignments. Overall all students’ health would improve in some way. It wouldn’t just improve students’ mental health and physical health but also can improve their concentration and grades in school. This would improve teachers and students interactions and help classes flow better. Students would be paying attention more and less likely to fall asleep in class which would lead to better test scores.