The alarm starts ringing. I wake up. I try to get out of bed, but then I fall back into bed and start to sleep. My mom calls and tells me to wake up. I reply, “I am too sleepy,” Does this sound familiar? For many of you, it should. Waking up around 6 in the morning is hard work. Many times I do not want to get up, but I have to if I want to reach school on time. I believe that school should start later. The reason that I believe this is that students, like me, may not get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep has many side effects, some of them which are not good at all.
One result of not sleeping well is being sleepy. The results in being sleepy are that you cannot do your best effort in school, home, or other extracurricular activities. Sleeping enables you to have better attention skills. That means that when your teacher is talking in class on the day that you got enough sleep, you would be listening attentively instead of sleeping in the back and hoping the teacher does not see you. But now let us get into the facts.
Sleep enables you to use your time productively. For example, if you have come back home from school, you may either watch tv or do your homework. Most people will agree that the most productive choice would be to do your homework. But say that you did not get enough sleep. Then you would probably watch tv or while away time doing something else when you should really be doing your homework. Also, in flex, there are many people who do not do their work like they are supposed to. Either that means that they did not get enough sleep or they just do not want to do work. If you have slept well, then you can probably use your time efficiently because sleep does improve productivity.
Another reason that sleep is important is that sleep improves positivity. Being positive is a very important element that everyone should have. If a person is positive, they will look at the brighter side. If you are positive, then you are happy. If you are happy and have a positive attitude, then you will be able to do different tasks easily. If there is something bad, then there will also be something good. In life, most people appreciate individuals who are happy. For example, there are two people in your class: Bob and Sam. Bob is always a very happy person and cheers everybody up. Sam on the other hand is a mean grouchy fellow who will always says mean things to everyone. Both of them come to ask you for help on some homework. Bob is happy, so he asks you politely. Sam is mean, so he demands that you help him. Now, which one would you want to help, Bob or Sam? Most likely you will say Bob. Why? Because Bob asked you politely and was happy. Sam demanded you to help him. Now you understand what I mean. Polite and happy people are appreciated while rude and impolite people aren’t appreciated. As you can see, being positive is very important while talking to people and socializing. But how about in grades?
Let me tell you another story to explain this. There is a boy named Tim. He is always happy. When he comes home, he looks at all the work he has and does it without complaining. When he messes up in some work or makes some mistakes, he is fine with it and wants to learn. On the other hand, a boy named Timmy is always mad. When he reaches his home, he looks at his work and then throws a tantrum. When he makes errors in his work, he gets mad and does not want to learn. As you can see, these are two completely different people: one positive and happy person and another negative and angry person. Now, I will ask you a question. Who do you think is going to be more academically successful? Most of you will probably choose Tim. Why will Tim be more academically successful? The reason why you picked Tim will be the answer to that question.
Kids should be getting an average of 10 hours a sleep. But, if you wake up at 6 in the morning and sleep at 8;30 to 9, like I do, to get 10 hours of sleep, you would have to sleep at 8. But for many kids, sleeping at eight is too early. Many students still have to do homework or need to go to an extracurricular activity. That would mean getting one hour less of sleep. In one school week, you would have slept for 5 hours less. In one school month, you would have slept for 40 hours less. The numbers keep getting larger and larger. What can we do about this besides sleeping very early? One answer could be to have school start a little later. That would mean that students would be getting more sleep, and the number of hours of sleep they miss would decrease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the CDC says that “significant risks that come with lack of sleep, including higher rates of obesity and depression and motor-vehicle accidents among teens as well as an overall lower quality of life.” As you can see, these are very bad side effects of not sleeping. Researchers analyzed data of 9,000 students at 8 high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming when the school day was shifted so school started later. The results of that were increasing attendance, fewer tardies, and a boost in test scores. The grades of students improved in social studies, science, math, and English. Also, there was a decrease in substance abuse and fewer signs of depression, and a dramatic drop in teen car crashes. All these beneficial events happened just because the school day started later and the students got more sleep.
Also, lack of sleep could cause increased obesity among kids and depression. Both are bad enough, but there are already many problems about obesity in the United States among children. About one in 6 children are obese. It would not make sense to add more students to the already growing number of obese people. Additionally, when students do not get enough sleep, that can cause motor-vehicle accidents among teenagers and as I already mentioned a decreased stature in life.
Some may argue that starting schools later would be bad for students, because it would mean that there would be interference in extracurricular activities such as sports. Also, many parents need the older children to take care of the younger children in the afternoon. But, with schools starting and ending later, that could interfere with these activities. However, does it make sense to participate in extracurricular activities when the students are sleepy. “Everybody learns better when they are awake.” It would make more sense to try to reorganize the extracurricular activities so that the students are well rested when doing that extra activity.
It all comes down to this. Which would you think would be better: a school with happy, willing to learn students that starts later in the morning, or a school with negative, tired students that starts at the normal time?
To sum up, I believe that schools should start later because then students will be able to get more sleep. Getting more sleep results in a variety of benefits such as more positive attitudes, attention skills, and using time more productively. When students are well rested and go to school, they will be able to their best in school. That will be an easy way for different grade of different students to increase because they will be well rested and be able to put in their best effort. Also, parents may be happier because they will have happy, well productive students. All in all, starting schools later will be very beneficial to students.
(P.S. Teachers will also be able to get more sleep if school starts later. Therefore, teachers will also be able to get all these benefits of increase in sleeping.)
Works Cited
“The Necessity of Sleep By Melinda Wang.” Grover Middle School’s Jagazine, 19 June 2017, groverjagazine.com/2017/06/19/the-necessity-of-sleep-by-melinda-wang/.
“Obesity.” BrainPOP, http://www.brainpop.com/health/diseasesinjuriesandconditions/obesity/.
Richmond, Emily. “Why School Should Start Later in the Morning.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 17 Aug. 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/08/why-school-should-start-later/401489/.
Grover Middle School's Jagazine 