Across the city, Virginia Beach high school students walk into school at 7:20 a.m., expected to be wide-eyed and ready to learn. However, that is not always the case. In a recent survey conducted by The Page, around 49 percent of students surveyed believe that they need more sleep on a regular basis.
“I think it’s too early,” said an anonymous respondent regarding the high school start time. “I don’t know how people expect me to be able to use my brain at 7:20 in the morning during HL [Higher Level] English.”
Another student said, “It is way too early, and [it] makes first block useless as students don’t have enough sleep to fully concentrate.”
Throughout the years, many studies have been done on how the lack of sleep affects growing teenagers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teens between the ages of 13-18 should be getting eight to ten hours of sleep every night, but according to the study, most teens do not fall asleep until 11 p.m. due to puberty’s effects on their biological clocks. Because of this, most high school students only get about 6.5 to 7.5 hours of sleep per night, the Better Health Channel found.
Besides teens’ natural tendency to fall asleep later, sophomore Avery Smead explained, “between schoolwork, extracurriculars, and spending time with family, it is unrealistic for most of us to be in bed before 9 p.m.”
On the other hand, some students enjoy the current schedule. One respondent of the survey said “I think the current start time is good because, despite the fact most students feel drowsy and tired in the morning, we get a lot of time to ourselves after school because of the time when we are let out. This allows for more time to be around friends, and even some students get part-time jobs.” Pushing the start time later in the morning would reduce the free time students have after school for other activities.
No matter what students prefer, getting a good night’s sleep is extremely important. Based on research done by the non-profit organization Start School Later, people who get a full eight hours of sleep every night have reduced stress, improved moods and clearer minds for a full day of learning. However, not getting enough sleep can have the opposite effect: mood swings, weight problems, depression, and anxiety.
A solution proposed to allow high school students to get more sleep would be to push forward the high school start time. However, administrators would also have to change the start times for elementary and middle schools due to transportation issues. Wavy News 10 reported that if the start time was changed, Virginia Beach would need approximately 80 additional school bus drivers per day, increasing expenses.
Math teacher Lauren Vento offered a possible solution: a break in the middle of the school day that would slightly push back the end time. “I think I would enjoy it to have that nice break in the middle of the day, especially if you do have heavy classes on both ends of the day,” Vento said. “So, would students enjoy an hour and a half break in the middle of the day? Absolutely.”
Currently, no changes will be made to the start time schedule for the foreseeable future. Because of this, high school students who believe they do not get adequate sleep will have to find other solutions. In order to develop good sleeping habits, the CDC recommends setting a consistent bedtime and rise time to make falling asleep easier and to stay asleep longer. It also suggests putting phones away 30 minutes before bedtime to help prepare your brain for more quality sleep and be ready to start your day.
