Why our schools should be starting later. #1

Have you ever been so exhausted that you find yourself unable to perform the limits tasks? Maybe you’ve experienced the haze of having to just go through the motions. Or maybe you’ve known what it feels like to have a fogged over mind. A very little awareness or clarity of the environment around you. Now, imagine having these experiences every, single, day. For 25% of Americans, they don’t need to. Teenagers ,like me, across the nation are being dragged from bed and forced to perform taxing mental exercises far too early than scientist and pediatricians recommend. In fact, 8 hours of sleep per night is the minimum recommended amount of sleep a developing mind needs. On average, only 1 out of every 10 high school students actually achieve the bare minimum. As Wendy Troxel, a sleep scientist said, “that’s like getting a C on an exam”.
And if you’re thinking, “then just go to bed earlier”, it’s easier said then done (trust me, I would give my left ovary for 8 hours of sleep if I could). Interestingly, a human body produces regular amounts of the hormone melatonin, this hormone turns on our “sleep mode” and is the thing telling us to stop watching The Office and get some shut-eye.(also easier said than done). But in an average teenage body, melatonin isn’t released into the brain until around 11 o’clock at night. That’s two hours later than an adult or young child. So, waking a tired teenager at 6 am is the equivalent to waking an adult up at 4am. Every. Single. Day.
So if you think about it (it’s not that difficult), the common moodiness, laziness, and irritable characteristics we shrug off as common rebellious behavior is actually chronic sleep deprivation. This epidemic in teens leads to increasing stress and anxiety levels, feelings of hopelessness, depression and more. Poor mental health not only effects grades and overall performance, but also damages the sensitive developing brain of a teenager.
So, the solution…later start times. Starting schools no earlier than 8:30 will not only decreases sleep deprivation in teens, but also improve the lives of thousands of emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted teens around the nation.