The SHS school day runs from 7:10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m on Wednesdays and lasts up to 1:55 p.m. on every other weekday.
However, The National Institutes of Health recommends that high school students get eight to 10 hours of sleep every night to support essential biological functions.
This means the average high school student would have to go to bed between 10 or 11 p.m. to be able to function at their best during the day ahead of them.
Right now, the average student’s schedule looks something like this: they wake up between 5:30 to 6:00 a.m. and go to school from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
After completing the school day and even potentially having to do schoolwork at home, students are expected to be in bed by 11:00 p.m at the latest to get the necessary amount of sleep for the day ahead.
This current schedule is simply flawed. Expecting students to be satisfied with their day after spending a majority of it at school is an unfair expectation that many struggle to meet.
This current system doesn’t just disservice students, but it also can have negative effects on the school and the teachers within it too. Having to go to bed so early may leave many students feeling fatigued and sleep-deprived.
This causes them to not perform their best in school the next day, and it can even lead to disrespectful behavior towards teachers.
By changing the time school starts to 8:30 a.m., students would be able to get more sleep, allowing them to feel more energized throughout their day.
According to the American Psychological Association, students with school start times at 8:30 a.m. or later had longer sleep duration, less negative moods and better developmental outcomes in regards to socioemotional health, cognitive development, behavioral health and physical health.
Another indirect effect of the change would be students being safer while driving to school. When they’re driving with this change implemented, they’d be more secure due to them not being as tired from the lack of sleep.
Not only does the time adjustment benefit students and teachers both mentally and academically, but it would also keep them safe too.
While the change wouldn’t be easy for everybody to adapt to, I believe that in the long run it would lead to improvements for everyone involved.
