Olivia Albert: Teens are not getting enough sleep: Start school later

To The Daily Sun,

There are also various negative effects from an early start time for schooling, yes, teens should be able to make adjustments for themselves so they get enough sleep, but also the amount of school work and activities that run later are out of their control. Doctors say, “When school systems have moved to later start times, they have found that their students get more sleep” (American), this now directly correlates sleep with school and the later school time would cause more sleep for teens subconsciously.

Less sleep can lead to depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. This can also cause more high risk thinking in teens without really thinking about the consequences, like drunk driving and failing to use a seatbelt.

A mental health doctor “recommend[s] that teens between the ages of 13 and 18 get eight to 10 hours of sleep per night” (Suni). With this teens are not getting the amount of recommended sleep they should be getting. This is provoked by staying up late to play video games, using technology, and the abundance of homework given out.

Some researchers believe that this change would conflict with parents' schedules and generate problems with transportation; however, what people fail to realize, is that there are programs put in place that would give them transportation to and from school, the bus system. Overall, moving school to a later time would immensely benefit teens because in this scenario the positives outweigh the negatives as it comes down to teens' mental and physical well-being.

Olivia Albert

Gilford