Opinion: The Nightmare of Waking up Early
I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say that waking up early for school will always be tedious. We go to all of our classes, do our homework until late into the night, wake up early in the morning, and repeat. Now with online school, the challenge increases, as we have to motivate ourselves to attend school when we could really just not log into the Zoom class. But why do schools even start so early in the first place?
Early school start times emerged when most of the American population consisted of farmers and laborers. Children would have to return from school to work while the sun was still up, leaving the only time slot for learning in the early morning. However, in this day and age, things are different. There is no need to start school early anymore. In fact, public schools in India actually start at around 9:30-10:00 AM. This could easily be implemented into schools in America.
Currently, most schools in the United States begin at or before 8:30 AM. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adolescents need 8-10 hours of sleep for proper cognitive performance – or in other words, proper thinking. However, many teachers (especially with the online platform due to Covid-19) assign most of their homework to be due at midnight. With all of the time-consuming extracurriculars, rigorous classes, and personal commitments, many students have to work until midnight to finish these homework assignments. On top of that, after turning in these assignments, students may also have to prepare for tests and complete other assignments. This forces most high school students at Del Norte and the greater United States to go to sleep past 12:00 AM on school nights. With school starting at or before 8:30 (8:00 in the case of Del Norte), most students wake up between 6:00-7:30 AM. This means that for most high school students, getting 8 hours of sleep every night is hilariously unattainable.
Later start times in schools would allow students the opportunity to get more sleep, something that studies have shown to be beneficial to mental health and grades. As seen in the MIT study “Better sleep habits lead to better college grades,” students with consistent, quality sleep schedules performed better in classes than students who had irregular schedules. Mental health is also a growing concern of teens in America, and in the Harvard study “Sleep and mental health,” sleep deprivation can actually amplify existing mental illnesses and struggles. In order to prioritize the health and success of high school students, later start times should be implemented. I hope that in the near future we will be able to more easily work through our massive list of commitments and get a good night of sleep in time for school the next day.