By: Campbell Brown

Statistics show that the adolescent body requires around 8.5-9.25 hours of sleep every night. With extracurricular activities, mounds of homework, and regular high school duties, this is next to impossible for the average student to achieve.

Without these precious hours of sleep, students are tired and their brain does not function to the full potential. It is also a known fact that the teen brain does not wake up and peak until later in the morning.

The 85% of students that do not get the amount of sleep they need suffer intellectual consequences as they are not alert in the morning after receiving minimal sleep. The students may not join certain clubs or partake in clubs they are interested in because they know they will be too busy and tired. Teens should not be held back from an activity because they feel restricted by the their minimal sleep.

These problems can be solved by a later starting time. If school started at 8:30 am instead of the normal 7:30 am time, students would be able to catch an extra crucial hour of sleep. The later start time also gives the brain time to wake up.

The choice to shift school starting time is pretty clear. In order to benefit in academics, health, and allow for participation clubs of student interest a later start time is a no brainer.

Sources: http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep/page/0/1

http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/backgrounder-later-school-start-times