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    Did you know that school administrators are inadvertently killing their students? Early school times have a massive impact on the lives of adolescents ranging from life-or-death situations to decreased mental and physical health, lower success rates in adolescents, and the detriment of the future of our nation as a whole. According to “How Would Later School Start Times Affect Sleep?” by Eric Suni, high schools in the US have an average start time of 8:00 am- much earlier than the average teen naturally wakes up due to their brain chemistry. School start times should be pushed back for the well-being of our students.

    One of the leading causes of death among youth is car wrecks. There is a strong correlation between auto accidents and school start times. Additionally, according to “Lack of sleep can turn teens into ‘Zombies’” by Stephen Ornes, most reasons teens don’t get enough sleep at night is because they have to wake up early to be to school on time. Sleep loss is also shown to cause higher risk of depression. Severe cases of depression can lead to suicide that could be avoided by later start times. Lack of sleep can also cause people to make unwise decisions, many of which could have life-threatening consequences. If students partake in drugs or alcohol, it may cause their still-growing brains to be affected in negative ways such as choosing to drive while intoxicated. Also, while under the influence, students may do things that can risk their life that their drug-addled brain classifies as safe. School’s inability to start later is causing fatal results, but early start times can’t just shorten lives, they can also decrease the quality of life as well.

    Many teens experience mental health issues and physical health problems, though they could be less severe if teens got more sleep. The article I mentioned above says that “Sleep-deprived teens… are more likely… to suffer from anxiety, depression, and mood disorders.” In that same article. It also says that sleep deprivation correlates with obesity. These two points illustrate the benefits of sleep, but there’s more. Often, when teens are tired, they drink energy drinks or other caffeinated drinks. This keeps them awake during the day but also disrupts their sleep at night. This causes them to be more sleepy the next day, and the cycle continues. Schools are causing students to lose sleep, meaning that they may be a major factor in many students having depression, obesity, and caffeine addictions.

    In addition to better health, more sleep can result in better grades. One former teacher (now a sleep scientist) says that most of her students (presumably in the morning) were half-asleep, not participating or asking questions. This meant that the students weren’t fully processing the information, which led them to get worse grades. This is reinforced by a graph titled “Student Academic Performance” where a strong correlation between later school start times and higher average grades. The informational study/article “Later School Start Times Promote Adolescent Well-Being” by the American Psychological Association has a list of benefits gained from sleep. Some of the points include improved memory, learning, attention, information retention and cognition, and student behavior in the classroom. It’s common sense that all these things would help improve grades, meaning that more sleep can lead to success.

    Some people may think, even after seeing these arguments, that it is still not a good idea to push back school start times because of the cost. In the article “Study: Later School Start Time Would Benefit Economy” by Kealey Bultena, it states that it would cost around $150 per student to make the changes required to push back start times. I would ask you this: How much is a life worth? I’d say that human lives are priceless, meaning that it’s worth any price to ensure the quality of the education of the students whose lives may rely on it. Speaking of the student's future, the kids of today grow up to be the adults of tomorrow. If we want our country’s - and maybe even our planet’s - future to be in good hands, we must educate the people who will be our future - and properly. They must get enough sleep so they can be educated citizens. Additionally, a study from the RAND company shows that moving start times back can add billions of dollars to the economy, offsetting the initial cost of moving back start times. Yes, it would cost a bit up-front, but it is worth it if moving back start times helps benefit youth’s lives, solidifying the future for students and improving our economy.

    I ask the students, current or past, when did your school start? Did you ever feel like you got enough sleep at night? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. We can change school start times for the future generations by sharing with school officials the facts about sleep and later start times: It reduces death in students. It increases both mental and physical health. It helps students succeed, and it can positively affect our economy and future. School start times need to be pushed back, and you, the reader, can help achieve that.

    Now go get some sleep.