Should High School Start Later Essay

High schools should start their school day later than they do now, in order for students to get the best out of their education. High schools throughout the United States start their school day at times that are too early for students. Teenagers have a biological wake time, and when schools start early in the morning, it interferes with teens biological clock. According to a study done by Harvard Medical School, young adults need at least nine hours of sleep every night. The study also shows that the need for sleep is never greater in our lives than it is during adolescence, but yet the conflict between school and sleep is at it’s highest while teens are in high school. Many educators believe that if teens just went to bed earlier, they would
In the evening, melatonin levels rise, and then during the night they remain at high levels. When you wake up in the morning, the hormone levels normally drop again. However, as WebMD explains, teen melatonin levels do not drop as fast as an adults do. Teens levels do not drop until later in the morning. This means that before teens levels drop, they feel sleepy, and sometimes irritated. Their memory isn’t as good as it can be yet, and they do not take in information as well. Teens that learn lots of curriculum during the morning, may not even remember all of what they learned later in the day, because they aren’t fully awake yet. Once they’re melatonin levels drop, they can learn at the best of their ability, but again, this doesn’t happen until later in the morning. With school starting earlier than teen bodies are physically capable of, they are not setting their students up for success. In order for students to achieve the best from their education, schools should start later in the morning. Students biological clocks would benefit from this, and in turn students would show better behavior. When schools start later, it gives students time to fully wake up and achieve the best results in