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YES. Do you always feel exhausted walking into your first class of the day? Early school start times could be to blame.
According to the CDC, 72.7% of teens are getting an insufficient amount of sleep, with 20% of those teens sleeping less than six hours per night. Teens are biologically wired to be night owls, falling asleep later and waking up earlier in the morning. School start times disrupt and clash with teens’ natural sleep patterns, forcing them to wake up before sunrise, thus preventing them from getting enough sleep. Due to factors including their bodies’ biology, extracurriculars, and large piles of homework, teens simply can’t fall asleep early enough in order to get eight to nine quality hours of sleep.
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written by Rachel Adam
Sleep deprivation can cause problems like poor grades, an increased risk of getting into a car accident, an increased likelihood of alcohol and drug usage, an inadequate attention span, and an increased risk of obesity, anxiety, and depression.
As a student who has suffered through the effects of sleep deprivation, there have been many cases in which, during my last class of the day, I would struggle to not fall asleep and stop paying attention because I had slept late the night before trying to complete numerous homework assignments and studying for tests. Even if I didn’t have much schoolwork or other events going on, I didn’t naturally feel tired until around 11pm, and I’d only have around six to seven hours of sleep, instead of the recommended eight to nine.
