Schools should be starting at a later time. It’s not healthy to have education start that early in the morning. In order to make it to school on time, high schoolers, on average, wake up at 6-7 am. Many students have a job or sport after school or if they are studying or doing homework late at night which results in having little to no sleep before their alarms go off. 

Kids are more likely to succeed when school starts later because they are well rested and ready. Even if they fell asleep at one a.m. the night before, they would still have eight hours of sleep which is important for teens/young adults. Students usually like this idea and believe school should start later for a number of reasons. 

“You would have better mental and physical health in general,” senior Keira Ryba said. 

Students would be less likely to be depressed due to lack of sleep. Coffee use would decrease, and students are more likely to eat breakfast which is the most important meal of the day. It’s not a surprise that Ryba was holding a Red Bull (energy drink) during her interview,

 “I didn’t get enough sleep and Red Bull is the only thing that keeps me awake,” said Alina Nikituk.

 She is not the only person drinking energy drinks in the morning, a lot of young adults at this school do, which is problematic.  Research says that large amounts of caffeine may cause serious heart and blood vessel problems such as heart rhythm disturbances and increases in heart rate and blood pressure. Caffeine can also harm children’s still-developing cardiovascular and nervous systems. If schools started later, then high schoolers wouldn’t need that much caffeine and the percentage would definitely drop. 

“We would have better grades and be more successful and less stressed while learning,” senior Nikutik said. 

When researching, evidence was found that a professor Finley Edwards found that starting school an hour later would raise test scores(link)

times an average of two percentile points in math and 1.5 points in English. Many students go to bed late because of the demands of their coursework and extracurriculars, so by providing extra time in the morning, it sets them up to have a more productive day. On snow days or two-hour late starts I am more focused, way more productive and less sleepy. 

“Having schools later in the morning would reduce the risk of car accidents and there would be less tardiness,” senior Darya Demanyuk said.

I have personal experience and know that the roads are more slippery at 7:30 than 9:30 in the morning because the temperatures increase. 

Multiple studies have shown (link) that both overall car crash and distracted driving crash rates drop significantly with delayed school start times, and repeated studies show that starting schools at 8:30 a.m. or later significantly boosts on-time attendance. When teens get more sleep, they’re better equipped emotionally to deal with all of the daily stressors. 

Schools starting later rather than earlier have more benefits than schools starting at a later time. The benefits that some high school students pointed out are better mental and physical health, improved academic outcomes, reduced risk of car accidents and less tardiness, generally more motivation.  Everyone wants a nice relaxing morning routine but with school starting so early and family sleeping in the house it’s almost impossible to make your bed, or have a nice breakfast or do a workout or journal. If schools started later students will be happier and healthier and teachers will be happy that their students are finally able to stay awake and complete their work.