__________________(Your full name) __________________(Your mailing address) __________________ [Date] Dear Councilperson ____________________, My fellow classmates are some of the most inspired individuals I’ve ever encountered. They want to learn, they want to challenge themselves, and they want to change the world. So why is it that they can barely keep their eyes open? It is becausethey stay up too late and wake up too early. Are stubborn teenagers to blame for this, or is the problem more rooted in biology? I choose the latter. Various studies have shown that teenagers are at their optimal thinking level at night, not in the morning. For this reason students get their homework done to the best of their ability late into the evening, but then struggle to wake up the next morning. Students walk around school exhausted, with bags under their eyes, drinking caffeine like water just to keep up with their slightly more alert classmates. To combat this destructive force of drowsiness, some schools in the Syracusearea, namely, East Syracuse-Minoa High School, have facilitated a later start time. This is a policy that should gradually be adapted in all high schools across New York State. Studies have shown that starting school even 45 minutes later greatly benefits teenage students in the classroom, socially, and emotionally. It is much easier to handle the stress of high school when going on a full nights sleep. One may argue that starting school one hour earlier just encourage students to stay up one hour later. While this is a reasonable concern, one should rest assured that students cannot stay up much later than they already do. Many students have said that, if given later school start times, they would go to sleep at the same time however, if even a handful of students benefit from later school start times and are able to do better in school becauseof it, then it is a change worth making. We are asking you, , to propose the idea of later school start times at your next council meeting, if nothing else to get the word out that sleep deprivation is a serious problem facing high school students. With this needed change will come more alert students, better prepared for their days and, most importantly, more prepared to learn.
Sincerely,