Sleep, a five letter word that most teenagers never appreciated when they were little, but now want more than ever. According to Merriam-Webster.com sleep is “the natural state of rest during which your eyes are closed and you become unconscious”. Sleep helps your body relax, your mind be at ease, and gives you energy for the next day.

Sleep is really important to your body because without it, you wouldn’t be able to survive very long. Personally, sleep has a big impact on me because if I don’t get enough sleep I can’t make it through the day. According to sleepfoundation.org, middle school and high school students should get “9 1/4 hours of sleep per night for optimal performance, health and brain development”. I realize as we get older, we tend to receive an unhealthily small amount of sleep. 

As a teenager, school heavily impacts my sleep because I have to stay up doing homework and wake up really early to go to school. Because of this, I believe that schools should start later in the morning, around 9 or 10, in order for middle school and high schools students to get a sufficient amount of sleep each night. Sometimes when I do get 8 hours of sleep I still feel tired. I believe that having 9 hours of sleep and starting school at a later time will improve students performances in school; students will be more awake and active. Even though starting school later might also push back the time we get out, I still believe waking up when your body is ready, instead of using an alarm to force it, is worth staying an hour or two later. Also, alarms are not healthy for students; they cause the body to wake up early and not at the time the sleep cycle is over.

Teenagers are still growing and developing which is another reason why schools should start later in the morning. Being a teenager, our brains and bodies are still developing. Having less sleep causes negative impacts on the teenager. For example, kqed.org states, “Negative effects of sleep loss include impairments in mood, attention, memory, behavior and executive function”. Knowing that sleeping less will cause these negative effects makes me worried about all the students that are not sleeping enough. Also, knowing these facts makes me more passionate about starting school later. I believe schools should know about these negative effects and I hope that the schools want to make sure the students can do the best they can.

Researchers in Minnesota conducted a study with “ more than 9,000 students at eight high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming and found that shifting the school day later in the morning resulted in a boost in attendance, test scores, and grades in math, English, science, and social studies” (Theatlantic.com). This study proves that starting the school day later improves the students’ scores and attendance. This is another reason why I believe we should start school later in the day. Although there might be some changes that have to happen, it’s for the good of the students and their health and much more important than delaying the school day a few hours.

School is an important part of teenagers’ lives because it helps us get a good education, but we shouldn’t be neglecting our bodies because of this. I believe that schools should start later in the day because there are many benefits to the school and students, such as decreasing tardiness and increasing test scores. School is important to me, however my health is also important. If school starts later in the day, students will get a healthy amount of sleep, which equals a healthy student.