Summary Of Our Kids Need More Sleep

Over 87% of teenagers don’t get enough sleep and go to school tired. Teenagers have constant expectations to live up to, but with the amount of sleep they’re getting it can be seemingly impossible. The question has been brought up time and time again, should the school day start later? Because of the risks of not getting enough sleep, trying to keep up with their their busy schedules, and being in their adolescent years, having the school day start later would help teenagers around the world immensely.

First of all, kids will be more energized and be more academically advanced if school starts are pushed back. According to, “Should School Start Later” “Studies show that well rested teens get better grades, have higher standardized test scores, and miss fewer days of school. They also have a lower risk of being in car accidents and have fewer health problems such as depression, mood changes, and being overweight.” Many schools start before 7:45 a.m. and have tired students not putting forth their best efforts while 40 percent of American High Schools start classes past 8 a.m. The schools with later starts

Do you ever wake up and feel like you haven’t gotten enough sleep? The reason is because in reality you probably haven’t. Studies show that schools should not start any earlier that 8:30 in the morning due to teens suffering from sleep deprivation. There are many negative effects this condition can have on a teens body including a direct effect on one’s physical and mental health, public safety and excelling in the future. In the Ted Talk video, " Why school should start later for teens" by, Wendy Troxel.  Ms. Troxel explained why school should start later for teens.. Students are very drowsy in the morning and are usually rushing to get to school on time which limits breakfasts times and healthy food options. Schools should start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.  for several reasons  but sleep deprivation is  the most important. Sleep deprivation can cause a direct effect to a child’s general health and behavior, public safety and potentially future success.

The school day should start later in order improve students’ mental health. Survey results have consistently indicated that middle level and high school students who start school at 7:15 a.m. or earlier obtain less total sleep on school nights due to earlier rise times in comparison to students at later-starting schools. () This is just the beginning of the negative impacts that early start times have on students. By starting school at a later time, students’ brains will function better, their grades and learning increases, and will be more mentally stable.

If we were to start school later, academic GPA’s (grade point averages) would definately increase. Isn’t this what we want in our school? It is proven that the more sleep you get, the more awake and alert you actually are. I interviewed Michael Claffey, a sophomore at Newington High School, he stated “ Goooooud.” Also Jorge Premto a sophomore at Newington High School stated “Yes Michael, yes I do believe school should start at nine o’clock am. This will thus help further my education because I will be well rested.” In all, we need school to start later because it will help us with our education.

Schools should start later because when schools start earlier students fall asleep in class and they are missing information that they need in order to do well in school. Students should be able to get more sleep in the morning so that their brains are ready to learn and that they can stay focus and pay attention to what the teacher is saying and so that they are doing well in school. In the article it talks about how “getting enough sleep is important for students’

According to the article “Should School Start Later” written by Justin O’Neill, he states “nearly 70 percent of teens are not getting enough sleep.” Since students are not getting enough sleep they end up feeling tired during school. If school starts later students will have more time to get ready for school in the morning without having to wake up earlier, be able to sleep in later, and have more time to eat breakfast in the mourning. Students will also be able to have more energy at school especially in the morning. Since students are tired when they go to school “some experts are saying middle and high schools should start later so teens can sleep in” (O’Neill).

Schools should start later because starting schools earlier prevents children from getting a full night's sleep, and it can make a students academic performance take the wrong turn. Schools should start later because starting schools earlier prevents children from getting a full night’s sleep, which can affect their health, safety, and development. The AASM recommends that teenagers should sleep 8 to 10 hours a night. But according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), almost 70% of high-school students report sleeping 7 hours or less on a regular basis.

To begin with, schools that have started later have seen better academic results. Many schools have seen improvement in standardized test scores recently due to later school start times. For example, the article “Do schools Begin Too Early” by Finley Edwards states that a school in Wake County North Carolina delayed their school start times by one hour and saw at least 2 more percentile points in standardized test scores. This means that schools that have delayed their start times have seen improved performance and grades in school. In addition, many students have came to school more due to later start times. According to Finley Edwards “Students who start school one hour later have 1.3 fewer absences than the typical student.” This means that schools which have started later have had more students come to school. Therefore, starting school later has many pros including academic results.

Students should be getting the recommended sleep, but 5 out of 7 days we aren’t sleeping enough. School starts way too EARLY. Experts all around the world agree that schools should start later. Sleep researcher, Paul Kelly states that schools should start later because our bodies are fully awake at 11 am. It’s scientifically proven that we learn more after this time.

Don’t you hate waking up to your alarm in the morning? Do you think you need more sleep? According to the National Sleep Foundation, American school age children are not getting enough sleep and it is a chronic health problem. I believe school should start later to make it easier for school age children to get enough rest so they can be healthy and productive.

Thomas Decker once said, “Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.” School. There’s a lot of things people can say about it. Mostly they’re arguments about school such as should school have trimester or semesters? Or maybe school should be year round rather than having a summer break. However, out of all those, one in particular caught my eye. Should school start later? Now me being a student myself, this was very enticing. Being able to sleep more and have a full night's rest would be delightful. I, myself, believe that school starting later would be beneficial for school and the kids going to school. It would have its pros and cons, but it would be an overall positive impact to everyone.

Almost every day high school students are waking up around six o’clock in the morning to get ready for school, some even earlier than that. Nearly every morning students are waking up without adequate sleep. If sleep is one of the most essential needs of the body in order to grow and develop, shouldn’t we be more aware of how much it affects students everyday performance? The ways in which students are affected by sleep-deprivation is precisely why school needs to start later.

The national sleep epidemic that has taken the world by storm is also taking a toll in not only teen’s health but also their performance in school as well as personal safety. The sleep deprivation that teens are experiencing everyday has caused many health problems as well as academic problems. I believe starting school later will hinder this ever growing teen sleep deprivation problem we face today. Letting teens sleep later is beneficial to their learning capacity as their heightened alertness improved their classroom performance as well as better memory and many other crucial achievements. So probably starting school later, but no later than eight thirty am, will lead students to perform better in school and their health will improve drastically.

One of the reasons that school should be started later is because it does not give growing teens enough time to sleep. Sleep researcher, Wendy Troxel, who spoke on TED, says that high school aged kids’ sleep cycles do no start until 11 p.m and do not end until 8 a.m. This means that whenever students’ alarms go off from anywhere around 5-7:30 a.m, it simply does not