To Sleep Perchance To Dream

Every day, I wake up at 6:30am, pry myself out of bed, shove my homework in my backpack, and leave for school.

I go without breakfast, teeth brushing, enough sleep, and struggle not to be late. For the small amount of amazing morning people, I imagine there are no problems. But for the rest of the student population, waking up early is no easy task. Many students (myself included) are sleep deprived because they stayed up late. There are those of us who choose to stay up late, and those of us who stay up late to finish homework. Sleep deprivation, especially in teens and children, can cause a variety of negative effects, such as; cognitive and emotional difficulties, makes learning more difficult, psychosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, and a variety of attention disorders.

If school started later, teens could sleep in later to make up for lost sleep, or go to sleep earlier and finish their homework in the morning. Breakfast, the most important meal of the day, is often skipped in the morning so students can arrive at school on time. It has been proven that children who eat breakfast perform better in school, and skipping breakfast leaves students tired and hungry. Also, research suggests that people who eat breakfast maintain a healthier weight (not to say that it is the new “weight loss plan.”). If school was not so early, teens could consume a healthy breakfast every day, and be ready for school.

First thing in the morning, students are tired and not too bright. There have been research studies on the brain functions of students, which say that the “brain juices” don’t start flowing until later in the day. (“Brain juices” is not a technical term*) If students are going to school when it is not a good time for them to learn, it’s not really fair to them. Even more, if there have been studies on whether student’s can learn during this time of day, scientists must also think that students should not be going to school as early as they do currently. This, begs the question of why does school start so early? Maybe so the teachers will not have to stay so late, but isn’t the purpose of school the educate the children, not so that teachers can have a sufficient amount of cash in their pockets, and still be happy? That would totally defeat the purpose, but since schools have made so many budgets cuts already, maybe that has become one of the purposes.

But I am not here to rat out the school system’s “secret evil plot” or anything on the lines of that. Regardless of the purpose of the education system or budget cuts, I believe that school should start later because it would be beneficial to the students.