Delayed school start time benefits teens

Megan Stoerman, Business Editor

Many students are left tired and bleary at end of the school day due to an early start time and the copious amounts of schoolwork done through school and at home. 

Studies have shown that teens would excel more at school if they were given more time to sleep. School districts across the nation have begun starting their school day later than most. According to the Washington Post article titled [“Why it’s ridiculous that high schools start so early in the morning,”] more than 40 percent of public high schools start their day before eight a.m. 

Teens often find themselves not being able to function before lunch, while many also report studying for test and quizzes not being effective. This all makes sense because without a good night’s rest the brain’s hippocampus and neocortex cannot work together to process memories and make connections with past memories. The teenage brain is wired to not be able to fall asleep before 11 p.m. and cannot wake up before 11 a.m. as well. 

Most students beam with happiness when asked if school should start at nine. Luke McBride, freshman, agreed with the statement and even said that having school start at nine “would be awesome!” 

While students see benefits in making the school day longer there are also negatives that should be looked into such as not having the school day surpass eight hours according to McBride. If the school day were to go longer than eight hours then many students would have to adjust their busy work schedules.

Some of the many benefits and advantages for students  could be getting more time to sleep and “students who have jobs would have more time to do homework,” and possibly even do more homework in the morning says Kristen Luttrell, senior.