High school students suffer from consistent lack of sleep

School starts at 7:30 am four days a week. The recommended amount of sleep for teenagers is at least 8 hours a night. The CDC reports that 7/10 teenagers are not getting enough sleep.   

For students working, doing homework, and extracurricular activities, getting 8 hours of sleep may be very difficult. Schools recommend getting lots of sleep but make it nearly impossible with the homework load that is given out.  

The average high school student has about 2.7 hours of homework per weeknight. If you pair that with a 5-hour long shift, sports practice, or balancing a social life it becomes clear that 7:30 am school makes this impossible. 

“on average, I would say that I usually get around 7 to 7 ½ hours of sleep every night.” states senior Evan Sundstrom. 

Sundstrom is one of the least extreme cases of lack of sleep, and is a great example of how hard it is to gain the 8 hours of sleep with schools so early in the morning.  

“I think that 7:30 is too early to start school. I feel that everyone is too tired at the start of the school day.” states Sundstrom. 

At the beginning of the school day many students are too tired to focus on class, this is easily preventable. . 

“if school started around 8:30 I feel like everyone would do better academically during their classes.” 

According to the CDC Lack of sleep can lead to higher risk of diabetes, injuries, obesity, and poor mental health. Starting classes just an hour later could really help students gain the sleep they need to make a difference in their grades, mental health, etc. 

Late start days allow students more sleep, and more time to get things done since they don’t have to worry about waking up super early the next morning.