The average student starts school between the ages of 4 and 5. Then, they are in school until age 17 or 18. Throughout childhood, school is a big part of someone’s life. Elementary school typically doesn’t start until around 9 a.m. while middle school and high school start at 7:55 a.m. 

Middle school and high school should start at the time the elementary schools start, and the elementary schools start just a half hour later. So many high school students come in and are exhausted, me being one of them. Many struggle to sleep at night, and this can result in sleeping during class, not coming to school, lack of paying attention and not doing work. I have noticed  during the school day when I enter my classes there is always at least one person missing. The majority of the time it’s because they were too tired or didn’t feel like coming to school that day. Now I’m not saying every student does this, but it is a fairly common occurrence.

Most high school students begin working between ages 14 through 16. Learning how to balance school and work can be difficult for some students, and I know this from experience. I have a job right now, and my shifts during the week are 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. After work, I have to come home, eat, shower and try to work on school work. Oftentimes I’m up until between 1 a.m. through 3 a.m.  Then, I have to get up at 6 a.m. for school. This is exhausting and sometimes causes me to fall behind in school. My body has adapted to only getting a little amount of sleep, but that doesn’t mean I’m not tired throughout the day. 

If school started later, even if it is just one hour later, that could give me, as well as other students in similar situations, more sleep, which could allow us to focus more. According to https://theconversation.com teenagers’ sleep hormones do not stop being released until 8 a.m. This is about the time school starts; therefore, students are waking up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. just to be on time to school. 

Lack of sleep doesn’t just cause lack of attention and focus in school, but it can be dangerous. I know this from experience. When my brother was a senior, in 2019, he just got his license shortly before the school year started. I would say he was a pretty good driver and never made me question my safety while being in the car. Sadly, one morning my brother got into an accident on the way to school. Thankfully, he wasn’t badly injured, just a concussion and bruised ribs. When the ambulance and his mom arrived, he was more worried about getting to school than his well being. He had issues with being tardy because, like me, he worked until late at night and still had to do school work. Most of his tardies were because he slept in because he wasn’t getting the amount of sleep he needed that night. That morning, he slept in after a long night at work and was rushing to get to school, while being half asleep. If students are half asleep while driving, that increases the risk of a car crash. According to https://aasm.org, schools that have earlier start times have more crashes due to lack of sleep. 

I have to drink one to two energy drinks a day to get through the day. If you name a type of energy drink, I’ve probably drank it. I buy the big variety packs of Monsters at Sam’s Club, and most of the time, that only gets me through a week. I’m always told to stop drinking energy drinks, but without them, I wouldn’t make it through my days. 

Due to my tight schedule and little amount of sleep a night, energy drinks are what keep me awake and functioning through the day. I’ve definitely learned to space them out, and make sure I eat with them. Even while walking through the halls, I see so many kids who have some type of energy drink in their hands, whether it is because they didn’t get enough sleep, or they are just drinking them to drink them. 

The number of students who are coming to school exhausted is too high. I feel as if the school doesn’t take into consideration students have a life outside school. This can vary from sports to a job. Some teachers assign loads of work, and some students don’t have the time to get it done. Many stay up late trying to get as much as possible done before falling asleep doing school work. I have done this countless times. If students were given a study hall, I guarantee that would help students out with how late they stay up doing school. Those 42 minutes could determine whether that student gets seven hours or five hours of sleep. I know I would love to have a study hall for this exact reason.