Waking up late and struggling to stay awake in classes is a problem many students face which brings up the question: does school start too early?
For many students going to school early in the morning makes it hard for them to stay focused at school. Teens’ sleep schedules vary, meaning some students stay awake later and struggle to get up early. This then causes them to be less focused at school and not remember as much.
Furthermore many students have extracurricular activities. Some students may find it hard to balance those with completing homework and still going to bed on time.
Grant Jennings, a student athlete, explained how his sleep schedule is affected.
“I usually go to bed around 11 p.m. because I get home from lacrosse at 7 p.m. and like to take my time getting ready for bed and eating dinner. Then I like to watch TV.”
Jennings admits that because of his schedule, he often is very tired in the morning and that his sleep has impacted his attendance.
“I have missed many days for being late or too tired. I actually have two detentions because of this exact reason,” said Jennings.
Teachers have noticed the same issue in their classes.
“I often see students struggling to stay awake in my morning classes,” said Ms. Dover.
Between balancing extracurricular activities, studying for assessments and completing homework, it can be hard to get enough sleep.
However, some students would argue that getting up later is not worth having to get out of school later.
“I would like school to start a little later, but not end too late. Starting later would help me feel more awake and ready to learn, especially since mornings can be tiring,” said junior Tanner Ainsworth. “But I wouldn’t want school to end much later because it would take away time from homework, activities and relaxing after school.”
Overall there is no simple answer to school start times. For some students it would be beneficial to have more time to sleep in, in order to be more focused in class, and for others it would negatively impact their schedules.
However, one thing is clear: many students aren’t getting enough sleep.
