By Dustin Rudolph

Students have been hearing that they need eight hours of sleep ever since they were back in kindergarten.  However, that doesn’t make students go to bed any earlier.  Students aren’t getting the proper amount of sleep that they need to excel in their studies.  Many believe that if school started later in the day then they would do better in their class.  But many other students don’t like the idea because it means school will have to continue longer through the afternoon.

Junior Jackson Anderson is one of the students that doesn’t support the idea. He says, “It doesn’t matter when I wake up.”  However, he does think school shouldn’t start until 8:15 a.m., because he likes, “the extra preparation time.”

Junior Tyler Schwab is a student who disagrees with him.  Schwab thinks that he would be a better student if it school started later, because he would, “get more sleep, pay more attention and feel more awake in first period.”  Schwab believes school shouldn’t start until 9 a.m.  Schwab says, “more sleep makes me better [in school].”

In an article from the National Sleep Foundation, they talk about the pro’s and con’s of delayed school times. The pros for later school times include a reduced risk of teen crashes due to drowsiness.  According to AAA, “drowsiness contributes to more than 100,000 crashes per year.”  Another pro is improved academic performance.  Less sleep causes slower reaction time and reduces concentration causing student’s to fall behind.  Students will also have less mood changes and an improved physical health.

Along with all the pro’s there are cons, such as an interference with parent’s work schedules.  Transportation would also be an occurring problem because of bus schedules.  And many have issues with after-school activities because they are pushed even farther throughout the day, which could cause some problems with supper times.