Should School Day Start Later?

Teen drivers have several factors against them when it comes to their risk of car accidents. Some teens drive while talking with friends or texting on their cell phones taking their attention away from the road. Others are not mature enough to make good driving decisions, increasing the risk of accidents. What many people do not know is that sleepiness is a main problem in teen crashes. AAA says that sleepiness is to blame for more than 100,000 crashes per year. When teens drive while they are drowsy, they have slowed reaction times and have a hard time paying attention to the road.

Teens are even more at risk for driving while tired because of start times for school starting way to early. Moving school start times to at least 9:00 would give teens the opportunity to get more sleep each night.

It has been proven that sleep deprivation is common effect on academic performance. The american academy of sleep medicine says that not getting enough sleep can have an impact on students performance by having probems concentrating, slow reaction times, get distracted easier, blocking decision making skills and causing forgetfulness.

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American academy of sleep medicine also says that sleep deprived people are more likly to make errors . These effects can have a major impact on test scores and on the students grades they get on class projects. An expert on sleep says that trying to teach teenagers so early in the morning does no good, even if class has intresting activities. the kids will want to get back to sleep and not pay attetion like they should.

In 1998, a survey to more than 3,000 high school students. They found that those who reported poor grades reported getting 25 fewer minutes of sleep than the students who got good grades . The teens that got poor grades also went to bed close to 40 minutes later than the teens getting good grades. A study confirmed that when schools start later can have a positive effect on academic performance. A study was on two diffrent school districts that changed their start times to 8:40 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. When compared with students attending schools with earlier start times. the students got higher grades, they also had fewer teens dignosed with depression, got more sleep at night, and was less sleepy during the school day.
Moody teens may not have depression or other mental illnesses. They may be suffering from the effects of not getting enough sleep caused by starting school too early. American reports that sleep deprivation leads to anxiety, lack of motivation and other symptoms of depression. Starting school later can reduce these symptoms, as shown by the results of the study.

Early school start times do not just affect mental ability and mood. They also have an impact on physical health. Sleep deprivation increases the risk for diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. School start times can influence diabetes and obesity in several ways. When teens get up very early for school and do not go to bed until late at night, they may eat more than they would if they got a healthy amount of sleep. Additionally, tired students may reach for foods high in sugar or caffeine. Trying to get that boost they will do almost anything for. This puts them at risk for serious health problems.

High school students are wired to stay up late and sleep in later. why on earth do 86% of the nation's high schools start before 8:30 a.m., making it nearly impossible for teenagers to get the eight and a half hours of sleep their bodies crave and adults want them to have? How ever adults want them to get their homework done, play sports, do their chores, spend time with their family, and GET THE 8 AND A HALF HOURS OF SLEEP?