It is obviously essential for the future of our country to be able to receive an education. Funding from the state governments? Even better! The early start time of school? Not a good idea and here’s why.

  Students need the opportunity to get adequate hours of sleep (8-9 hours). The amount of homework, tests, extracurriculars, projects, and just overall stress of competition already prevents them from doing so. Add on high school drama and mental breakdowns, and now students are barely getting any sleep! This is extremely dangerous physical and mental health-wise. 

  Always sleeping after school leads to a decrease of physical activity. Without the proper hours of sleep consistently, a student becomes prone to obesity and a long list of heart diseases that can sometimes be fatal. 

  Most juniors and seniors are driving themselves and sometimes others to school everyday. By lacking enough sleep, driving skills are diminished. The likelihood of an accident is much higher. Not only is this endangering the student(s), but also causing a public safety hazard.

  Let’s talk about the mentality of students who start school before 8:30 a.m. These students are more likely to wake up grumpy and have a “bad day” almost everyday. This can lead to the possibilities of mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. In addition, by having to sacrifice their sleep so much, many students become unmotivated and begin the procrastination process to make themselves feel better. This then leads to a drop in attendance and a drop in grades. 

  Academic performances decrease from lack of sleep because the brain will have trouble retaining information and putting it to use. Therefore for tests, it’s better to get sleep rather than pulling an all-nighter and trying to remember everything the next day. This method will just cause more stress for the student. You either know it, or you don’t; one grade will not define your academic success. 

  It is important for districts nationwide to recognize that sleep will help their students succeed. The overall goal for students is to succeed not to forcefully make them learn new, challenging concepts before their brain has fully awaken! After awhile, these bad sleep habits become a daily thing. One needs to keep track of their hours of sleep to be consciously aware and stop themselves before it becomes permanent!