Payton Reeds

Ms. Layson

English 11B

02 December 2019

Hit Snooze on Start Times

As the alarm clock sounds, teens feel the grogginess of sleep deprivation. High school

start times should be delayed because teenagers biologically change, causing it to be nearly

impossible to fall asleep and wake up at a time like when they were children. Sleep deprivation

can cause serious health concerns, and the amount of focus is greatly increased when teens sleep

longer.

In previous years, policymakers have been urged to push back school times for teenagers.

As some schools switched over to later school times, some still remain just as early as before.

Many arguments have come upon whether or not moving school times later in the day is a good

idea or not. In some school districts, start times are staggered in order to have full transportation

for the kids. Previously, studies had discovered that later start times improve attendance and had

improved overall grades. Teenagers have a biological sleep pattern that causes them to fall asleep

later and wake up later than when they were smaller. Sleep deprivation also impairs driving,

making high schooler’s commute dangerous. Although pushing start times back would increase

the cost of transportation, starting school later will benefit that student with more lifetime

earnings.
 Sleep deprivation is more abundant in teenage years than in any other year of life. As a

teenager, piles and piles of homework are loaded on. Homework, after school activities and jobs,

has all teens as tired as possible. Being social and alert is expected of teenagers as they go about

their day, but can they really do that with no sleep? As Valerie Strauss says, “Biological sleep

patterns shift as children grow up, and it’s natural for teens to find it difficult to fall asleep before

11 p.m.” (Strauss). Strauss implies that it’s natural for teenagers to feel as if it is difficult to fall

asleep, this is caused by a biological sleep pattern. Your biological sleep pattern is described as

your sleep/wake cycle. Kyla Wahlstrom states “The unique sleep/ wake patterns of teens is

beyond their control. Just expecting teens to minimize distractions and go to bed earlier is not a

solution.” (Wahlstrom) These cycles are uncontrollable and are cycles of your levels of alertness

and sleepiness, it’s when you’re sleep deprived that you notice more of one or the other at

specific times.

Serious health concerns can arise from sleep deprivation. Schools starting early can

seriously affect one’s health. Sleep deprivation can cause serious car crashes and the feelings of

anxiety and depression. Our children are coming to school feeling upset and tired. According to

Brittney McNamara, “One study found that only 15% of teens reported getting 8 1/2 hours of

rest on a school night. Not getting enough sleep can ​lead​ to unhealthy eating, depression, other

health problems, and can result in drowsy driving…” (McNamara) Teenagers are proven to be

depressed, drowsy, and unhealthy, which can lead to serious problems other than those. Brittney

proves that less than half of teens get the needed amount of sleep each night, this is what can lead

to car accidents early in the morning. McNamara also says, “So, if making school start later

could potentially lead to better test scores, healthier teens, and fewer drowsy driving accidents,
why hasn't it been done? Well, there may be a few reasons. The stereotype that teens are lazy

could be one of them.” (McNamara) Teens are stereotyped as lazy because they simply cannot

wake up. They continue sleeping until noon, but they simply cannot control their sleep/ wake

cycle. If this uncontrollable cycle is causing car crashes, why don’t we push back the time school

starts?

When sleep increases, so does focus. Ronnie Cohen, in his Washington Post article states

that grades increased more than four percent when delayed start times were implemented at

Franklin High and Roosevelt High in Seattle. In Seattle, absences and tardies significantly

dropped as these times were put into place at Franklin High. (Cohen) Students have been proven

to be more attentive in the classroom when they sleep more. "If you think about something like

calculus, we're asking teens to perform complicated mental functions when their minds are

probably not fully alert yet," says Ellin Holohan (Holohan). Not only is it extremely hard for our

brains to comprehend things early in the morning, but it’s worse when you add schoolwork on

top of that.

Although some might argue that cellphones and electronics are the cause of their loss of

sleep, that is not the case. Doug Mantz states, “I would argue that busy schedules and the overuse

of phones, tablets, computers, video games and television have as much, if not more, negative

impact on our teenagers' sleep schedules than the time at which school begins. We, as parents,

have ​influence​ over these important factors, should we choose to exercise it.” (Mantz) Doug

thinks that electronics are the cause of all sleep deprivation. This, however, is not the case.

Mantz tries to use a solid argument against sleep/ wake cycles with the fact that parents have
“complete control” over when we’re sleep-deprived. While Mantz does make a clear point, he is

simply wrong.

Overall, school start times should be delayed to save our teenagers. With more sleep,

teenagers will have improved focus, they’ll be able to let their biological sleep clocks work out,

and their health will no longer be at risk. So maybe instead of taking teenager’s phones to

improve their experience and focus at school, maybe try delaying start times instead.

Works Cited

Holohan, Ellin. "Earlier School Start Times Endanger Teen Drivers." ​Teen Driving​, edited by

Michele Siuda Jacques, Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. ​Gale In Context:

OpposingViewpoints​,https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010521222/OVIC?u=lom_access

mich&sid=OVIC&xid=bfc58528. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019. Originally published as "Early

School Start Times May Raise Risk of Teen Car Crashes,", 12 June 2010.

McNamara, Brittney. "Why Schools Should Start Later and Teens Should Sleep More." ​Gale

Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection,​ Gale, 2019. ​Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints​,https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/PECSFF838512227/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich

&sid=OVIC&xid=6595886d. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019. Originally published as "Why

Schools Should Start Later and Teens Should Sleep More," ​Teen Vogue​, 4 Jan. 2019.

Cohen, Ronnie. "At these schools, later start times get an A-plus for youths needing
 more sleep." ​Washingtonpost.com​, 8 Feb. 2019. ​Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints​,https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A573380556/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=

OVIC&xid=c5f9e485. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.

Mantz, Doug. "Delaying School Start Times Is Reckless Social Engineering." ​Gale Opposing

Viewpoints Online Collection​, Gale, 2019. ​Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints​,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/PFHUVI735182870/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVI

C&xid=f84c2bb1. Accessed 10 Dec. 2019. Originally published as "Op-Ed: Opposing the

Change to School Start Times," ​West Hartford News,​ 16 Nov. 2018.

"School Start Times." ​Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection,​ Gale, 2019. ​Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints​,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/ODWGQR813125509/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=O

VIC&xid=c0969532. Accessed 3 Dec. 2019.

Strauss, Valerie. "Why it's ridiculous that high schools start so early in the morning."

Washingtonpost.com​, 6 Apr. 2018. ​Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints​,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A533676678/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC

&xid=0a4bcd4d. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.

Wahlstrom, Kyla. "Sleepy teenage brains need school to start later in the morning." ​Gale
Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection,​ Gale, 2019. ​Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints​,https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/PFETPI145570028/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich

&sid=OVIC&xid=08b9c041. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019. Originally published as "Sleepy

teenage brains need school to start later in the morning," ​The Conversation,​ 12 Sept.

2017.