Why We Should Start Later In High School Essay

Everyone would rather feel wide awake during as school day than to be falling asleep in class, unable to concentrate for the big final. Sleep is mandatory to everyone, and people depend on sleep to function every day. The amount of sleep a person gets throughout a night can affect their mind, making their abilities to remember, think, and learn harder. Due to their lack of melatonin, teenagers need the most sleep compared to adults. Although, they are the ones that have to wake up the earliest due to the early high school start times. Statistics, facts and studies have shown that the time school starts for adolescents affects the teenager in many ways. Being sleep deprived doesn’t allow the teenager to function their best. The time high school starts is super early. High Schools around the world start at 7:15 A.M. or even earlier. Many teens get ready and take showers in the morning, causing them to wake up at least an hour before the bell rings. Many also miss breakfast due to running late by sleeping in. Some teens must wake up even earlier due to buses arriving early. Hour long bus rides aren’t uncommon in some places. Usually, a student must be at their bus stop before the sun even rises because there are usually two bus routes. The bus route for
According to Wolfson and Carskadon's 1998 study, “26 percent of high school students routinely sleep less than 6.5 hours on school nights, and only 15 percent sleep 8.5 hours or more” (Carpenter). In result to that, many adolescents try to sleep longer on weekends to “catch up” on their sleep hoping it will contribute to the tiredness they will feel the following Monday morning. There are many statistics that show how dramatic the effects of not getting enough sleep are on a teenager’s