As rates of teenagers struggling with depression and anxiety have significantly risen over the last decade, getting enough sleep is imperative for both mental and physical health. However, very few students actually get enough sleep. For students to perform well academically and socially, they need around nine hours of sleep, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. However, according to the National Library of Medicine, most teenagers go to sleep around 11:00 p.m. and wake up at around 6:30 a.m., which means that, at best, they only get seven and a half hours of sleep every night. Poly students, in general, are sleeping even less. A survey from Poly’s Psychology class last year with 124 responses found that 67.8% of Poly students get seven or fewer hours of sleep per school night. The solution to fixing this widespread sleep deprivation? School start times should be pushed back to 9:30 a.m.

During puberty, teenagers’ circadian rhythms change, resulting in the need for sleep being delayed by around two hours. This means that the natural time for teenagers to go to bed is around 11:00 p.m., and their natural wake-up time is around 8:00 a.m. However, this does not synchronize with the systems our schools use. While Poly pushed back their start time from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. a few years ago, most students cannot get ready and travel to school within thirty minutes; thus, they must wake up earlier, going against their bodies’ natural rhythms.

This is true for Poly students as it is for students across the country. Freshman Ella Dan explained how, on her busiest weekdays, she doesn’t get home from school until 8:00 p.m. due to her extracurriculars, stays up doing homework until around midnight and wakes up at around 6:30 a.m., meaning that she only gets six and a half hours of sleep — certainly not enough to sustain her throughout the day.  Our irregular sleep schedules also have a snowball effect. Dan explained, “When I’m tired, it takes me longer to do my homework the next night, so then I have to go to sleep even later, and it becomes a vicious cycle.”

We can see the clear educational benefits of later start times in a study by the National Education Association. They found that after high schools in Florida pushed back their start times, average math performance went up by 6% and reading performance improved by 4%. They also observed an improvement from 80% to 90% in graduation rates over 4 years after delaying start times. Getting enough sleep is essential for academic success. A lack of sleep can lead to many problems, such as cognitive impairment and a reduced ability to understand complex concepts, ultimately affecting their academic performance.
Another effect of sleep deprivation on students is making more mistakes, including potentially fatal ones. The National Center for Biotechnology Information found that teens who get seven or fewer hours of sleep per night have significantly higher rates of risky driving behaviors and car crashes compared to those who get nine hours of sleep. Pushing back starting times could decrease car crash rates by 16.5%, according to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

To improve the mental health, academic performance and safety of our students, schools – including Poly – should start at 9:30 a.m. This later start time would raise the average sleep time of students to about eight and a half hours. While some adjustments may be necessary, such as installing lights for later sports practices and running bus schedules later, the benefits far outweigh these smaller concerns. Starting school an hour later would have an immense impact on students, improving their mental well-being and academic performance.