By Anna Carey 

Waking up early has never been a talent of mine. Given the opportunity, I would gladly sleep straight past noon and then go to bed in the early hours of the morning. I have completely given up on taking 8:30 a.m. classes, even if they sound incredible, because I know it would be a struggle for me to get up and out the door that early twice a week. Even if it is for something I am truly excited about, like going on vacation, I still struggle to get up earlier than 10 a.m. Obviously, my preferred sleeping habits did not mesh well with regular high school hours.

My high school’s first bell rang at 7:22 a.m. and classes started three minutes later. That meant waking up around 6 a.m. (by the end of the school year that time was pushed back to 6:45) and getting ready in a zombie-like state. I dragged myself around school for the first few periods until I was fully awake and functioning, which was usually not until the middle of third period. I skipped breakfast to save time and because it was just too early to eat: our early days also meant lunch periods began at 10:45 a.m. Once I got out of school at 2 p.m. I would rush home to take a nap before going to work or starting homework because I was too exhausted to do anything productive. When I had afterschool obligations, days felt like an eternity, and if I managed to make it to a morning extra help session, I could barely get through the rest of the day.

A 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. school day is a typical high school schedule because it gives students more time for afterschool activities, sports, jobs and childcare for younger siblings. Unfortunately, such a schedule is not beneficial to students. For adolescents between 10 and 19 years old, sleep deprivation is a widespread and chronic health problem. According to the National Sleep Foundation, those in this age range require an average of nine to 10 hours of sleep each night, but they typically get much less due to their hectic schedules. This deprivation is especially seen in high school age teenagers, who have more responsibilities than younger adolescents.

Sleep deprivation is a serious problem. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, sleep deprivation affects a sufferer’s mood, performance and health.

Those who are sleep deprived are at risk for a number of side effects like irritability, anxiety, lack of concentration, restlessness, poor decision, increased errors and forgetfulness. There is a correlation between sleep deprivation and an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, obesity, diabetes and, in extreme cases, mortality.

Sleep deprivation can also lead to serious safety risks. A recent study published by the School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales found that drivers who were moderately sleep deprived were as dangerous as drivers who were intoxicated. The National Sleep Foundation found that, among the 100,000 drowsy driving crashes each year, drivers under 25 years old caused 55 percent of accidents. Teen drivers face more risks behind the wheel even if they do get sufficient sleep; the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drivers between ages 16 and 19 are more likely to be in a car crash than drivers of any other age group. Teen drivers are already at risk behind the wheel, and their chances of getting into an accident increase with drowsiness.

The National Sleep Foundation has found that during puberty, sleep patterns begin to change. Adolescents are prone to daytime sleepiness, even if they do get the recommended amount of sleep. They also tend to fall asleep and wake up later due to what the Foundation calls a sleep phase delay — an 11 p.m. or later bedtime is the norm for most teenagers. On the weekend, when teenagers attempt to “catch up” on lost sleep, they make it harder for themselves to get into a consistent sleep pattern. Waking up at such different times on weekdays and the weekend leaves teenagers trapped in an irregular sleep pattern that makes it difficult to get up early.

After years of researching the impact of school start times on high school students, the Foundation recommends that school starts later for teenagers in order to account for their biological needs. High school students can be in school during the hours they are the most alert if the day started later, which could then improve their academic performance.

Enacting later start times for high schools would take some planning and consideration. Parents often rely on their teenagers to take care of younger siblings when they get home from school, so high schools would need to dismiss students before elementary and middle schools. Disrupting arranged transportation, sport and activity schedules would be a headache as well.

If it is beneficial for the students’ health and academic performance, it is a given that high school start times should be later. Students would still have enough time for afterschool activities, sports and jobs if schools started even a half hour later.

I believe it would be a worthwhile decision on behalf of students and for the safety of those around them, and I personally would have loved getting to sleep in until at least 7 a.m.