By: Nicolas Ting

Period 6
How early do you wake up to go to school? Many highschoolers have to wake up a
t around 6:00 in the morning to get ready for school. Some people agree with thi
s method of having them wake up early because it "builds responsibility." Benjam
in Fanklin once said that "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, weal
thy and wise." However,this is not always true. Not getting enough sleep can hav
e serious consequences that will affect your academics, your social behavior, an
d your health. These are the reasons many people believe that high school start
times should be changed.
According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), teens, on average, need at l
east 8 1/2 hours of sleep each night and 9 1/4 hours for "optimal performance, h
ealth and brain development." Due to the lack of sleep that most teens get due t
o having to wake up early or the immense amount of homework thay have, they are
unable to maximize the learning oppurtunities that are offered on a day where th
ey do get good sleep. This is due to the fact that sleep deprivation "impairs th
eir ability to be alert, pay attention, solve problems, ... and retain informati
on" (Background: Later School Start Times. sleepfoundation.org). Renowned expert
on adolescent sleep, Mary Carskadon, cites several advantages for teens getting
the sleep they need such as: "reduced likelihood for tardiness;" and "better gr
ades."
As much as high school start times will affect your academic life, they can al
so affect your social behavior. Not getting enough sleep night after night after
night face a significant risk for emotional and behavioral problems such as irr
atability, impaired decision making, drinking, poor impulse control, depressions
, and violence. Otherwise explained as a lower overall performance in everyting.
Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom did a study at the University of Minnesota after the Minneap
olis Public School District pushed back the starting times at high schools from
7:15 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. Dr. Wahlstrom found "increased daytime alertness and decr
eased student-reported depression."
Although changing high school start times may seem like the right thing to do,
this shift in time can be very challenging for school districts. In Ted Velkoff
's article "Later Start Times Cost: Opposing View," he pointed out that the impa
ct of changing the times would be huge for many school districts. The change wou
ld impact family schedules, school transportation like buses, and after school a
ctivities like sports or different clubs. In any case, all of these things must
be considered before a policy change can be considered. As daunting as all of th
is may seem, schools in Chesterfield County, Virgina brought up the issue of cha
nging school times during a school board meeting in early November, 2014. Also i
n Fairfax County, Virginia, they had approved a plan that has changed the school
start times and has used most of the money they have raised to purchase additio
nal buses to fit with the modified times. This new time change in Fairfox has of
ficially taken place September 2015 (School districts weigh pros, cons of later
start times for high schools. Brian Stack, November 2014)
We have talked about academics, we have talked about behavior, and now, it's t
ime to talk about health. Research has shown that teens who have later school st
art times and get their much needed sleep have a stronger immune system, reduced
risk of obesity, eating disorders, and diabetes. They have reduced fatigue, mem
ory attention, improved mood and athletic performance, and reduced sudicial thou

ghts and car crashes which is good because car crashes aren't exactly good for y
ou're health (What's the Big Deal" startschoollater.net)
There are a huge amount of pros supporting the change for high school start ti
mes. So the question is: Why haven't they changed? Changing the start times not
only benefits your overall performance in school, it will also benefit your heal
th and even the safety of others around you. So lets go do what is best for the
society and lets go make a change.