Essay On Why High School Should Start Later

Should high school classes begin later in the day and end later in the day to accommodate students natural sleep clocks? I think starting school later in the day would be helpful to the students and their natural sleep clocks. Teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week, like during the weekends they usually stay up later than the weekday which can affect the rest of week. There is evidence that shows your brain doesn’t function well at certain times during the day. I believe school should start later in the day because it will improve students school life, and their life outside of school.
A beneficial factor of starting school later in the day is it will allow teens to focus more in school. The brain needs a certain amount of hours of sleep in order to function properly. Teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each to function. Most teens do not get enough sleep. Studies have found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights. The average school day is around 6-7 hours, and within this time students are learning new things. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information our attention span is about 8 seconds, and with most teens not getting enough sleep this number could decrease for them.
Teens suffer from many sleep illnesses like narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea, but a common struggle teens go through is depression. With the early times that school is starting it forces teens to lose their REM or rapid eye movement. If teens lose this sleep they won’t have control over their mood. Sleep deprivation causes teenagers to be moody, irritable, and cranky. This will make them have a difficult time changing their mood, and getting frustrated or upset. There are other problems when it comes to the loss of sleep. Getting little sleep is linked with obesity, depression, drug use and other