A common recommendation for teenagers is to get 8-10 hours of sleep every night, but sadly, this is not possible for many. A large cause of this lack of sleep is needing to get up early to go to school. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 70% of high school students report that they do not get enough sleep (8 hours or more) on school nights. 

The teenagers themselves are not fully responsible for this either. Teenagers experience a shift in their biological rhythms as they mature, causing them to go to sleep later in the night and wake up later in the morning. The average start time for public high schools in the United States is 8 a.m, and this early start time forces teens to wake up earlier than they otherwise would.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that high schools don’t start until 8:30 a.m at the earliest, which is later than LFHS’s  current start time of 8:15 a.m. Even though this doesn’t seem like that much of a change, even a slightly later start to school can make a big difference for students. States such as California have created laws around delayed start times for school, with high schools required to not have classes before 8:30 a.m, which is expected to help students greatly. 

“Getting enough sleep every night leads to better physical and mental health, including decreased rates of depression and anxiety and less caffeine use,” sleep psychologist Shelby Harris told U.S. News.

Having a later start to school would also improve students’ academic performance. Being less tired in class helps students to focus more on learning and puts them in a better mood. They also have more time at night to stay up and finish their homework assignments without losing out on sleep. Additionally, students have more time in the mornings to get ready for school and get to class on time. Schools that have delayed their start time to 8:30 have seen attendance rates significantly improve, according to a study by the National Sleep Foundation.

However, there are some drawbacks to having a later start time for school. First off, pushing the start time of school back inevitably pushes dismissal to a later time, since the district has a mandated number of hours of school each week required by the Illinois Board of Education. This later dismissal time could affect both extracurricular athletics and clubs, which would need to be considered if this later start time were to be implemented. 

Fortunately, we have already seen this accomplished in the form of block days. Every week on Wednesdays and Thursdays, school starts at 9:00 a.m. and gets out at the usual time of 3:20 p.m. These days require no change to the after school schedule and are a great way for students to catch up on sleep. However, it is important to remember that if this later start time happened every day, then the dismissal time would likely have to be changed accordingly.

Despite this, there are many reasons why high schools should consider a later start time. The overall success of students is vital to schools, and this is a way that they could help students improve their mental health and increase focus and motivation within the classroom. A stronger academic performance from students is also beneficial for schools, so ultimately a later start has a positive outcome for both students and schools. 

A later start to school would create happier and healthier students at LFHS, and would prove to be a valuable change to teenagers schedules.