Around six o’clock every morning, teens all across America are awoken by the deafening and annoyingly familiar sound of their alarm ringing, beckoning them to get ready for school. Their response; hitting that well-known snooze button, as their bodies crave another hour of sleep. Most high schools in America start at or earlier than 8:30 AM, which is much too early considering that the students usually fall into a deep sleep sometime after midnight(Wallace). Studies show that 87% of students, or more specifically, teens attending high schools report getting less than the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on weekdays due to their schools’ early start times(Reddy). Start times at 8:30 AM or earlier in America are negatively impacting teenagers’ …show more content…
To answer that question, there are and have been numerous accounts of studies conducted to prove exactly what shifting timings can do. Most of these deal with handling financial situations or, more importantly, after-school jobs/activities. High school students participate in sports, part-time jobs, or clubs, which all take place at the end of the school day. With the start times being dialed forward, there is less time left for these activities at the end of the school day(Stephan). Sports programs offered by schools will run later and their practice fields might even be booked by other activities at the same time(Stephan). In the winter, these athletes will still have practice after or near sunset which poses as a safety hazard for some students(Stephan). Admittedly, these claims made by opposing views are logical and do create some controversy. However, these reasons most definitely do not outweigh the negative effects of early start times because they pertain to the teens’ well-being and academic success. Academic performance, getting into car accidents and attraction to alcohol/drugs, all caused by early timings, are things that seem to be much more important in the eyes of teachers and