Early School Should Start Later In High School

As of 2006, only about 20% of american teens sleep the recommended 9 hours and 15 minutes every night. (Winsler et. al. 2) If the statistic is still accurate, then something needs to be done about the amount that teens sleep. Lack of teenage sleep could be caused by a number of things, however, early school start times undeniably play an enormous role in teens’ sleep. Adolescents spend most of their days in school and the majority of students have homework, jobs and extracurricular activities after school, leaving them with just enough hours left in the day for sleep. It is imperative that schools start later in the day because sleep is important for teenagers’ health and development, adolescent bodies have different sleep schedules, and it
This sleep cycle is mostly influenced by the body’s circadian rhythm, an inner clock for your body, in the suprachlasmatic nucleus or the SCN. When light enters the eye, the SCN sends signals to your brain to make you more awake; when it is dark and no light enters your eye, the SCN sends signals to make you more sleepy. (Tasain 1) However, the human brain also produces a hormone called melatonin at night which also makes us feel tired. According to (West, Teny, Carrell 1), "The adolescent body does not begin producing melatonin until around 11 pm and continues in peak production until about 7 am, then stops at about 8 am. In contrast, adult melatonin levels peak at 4 am. Therefore, waking up a teenager at 7 am is equivalent to waking up an adult at 4 am” (Winsler et. al. 1). School requires students to be awake when their bodies want to be asleep. According to (Winsler et. al. 1), for around 40 % of teens, this natural tendency toward an eveningness chronotype is so severe that it is practically impossible for them to fall asleep much before midnight even under the most supportive of parental/familial conditions and bedtime routines, and such children appear to be at particular risk of mental health problems. Your circadian rhythm is also controlled by body temperature. It increases during the day and decreases during the night, reaching its lowest point at 4 am, only an hour or two before some students’ alarm clocks are going off. Sources, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, urge schools to start no earlier than 8:30. (Tasain 1) Most pupils attempt to get on a sleep schedule but their bodies respond differently, naturally. Some might suggest sleeping pills, such as Ambien, in order to get on a consistent sleep schedule but they are not a good solution for sleep deprived teens because after prolonged use, the brain becomes reliant on the pill and it