Push start times
A widely–discussed debate decides whether school should start later
A student putting their head down on a school desk, tired and frustrated from a lack of sleep the night before.
It’s 6 a.m. and teens around Michigan scramble to turn off their alarms and force themselves to prepare for another early start to their day.
School can be hard and many teens find it even harder to attend the early start date of school. A large portion of the world is still sleeping at this time and teens required to wake up before the sun is completely up is unreasonable.
“Early school start times can cause chronic sleep deprivation, which leads to increased risk for obesity, depression, poor academic performance, substance abuse and driving accidents,” according to choc.org. Not only can this early start date cause frustration, but it can also take a toll on mental and physical health. Students should not be required to start school at such an early time if that means an array of health problems.
It is easily agreeable that if the start time for school is pushed back, it could mean some students are only going to stay up later; however, many teens have work and activities in the evening and extra time to sleep at night could mean a world’s difference.
Overall, when it comes to pushing the start time, the pros outweigh the cons and it’s important for growing teenagers to get the necessary amount of sleep they need.
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