Every day students come to school extremely tired, and it’s common for them to fall asleep during class. An easy solution to this problem is having school start at a later time. The benefits of this can be letting students get more rest so that they have more energy to participate in a full day of education. 

Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that teenagers ages 13-18 need at least 8-10 hours of sleep per day. If the start time of school is pushed back to around 8:30-8:45, students will have more of an opportunity to get longer, more quality sleep. With better sleep, the students would be able to perform stronger academically and be able to focus on their tasks at school. 

Not only would students be able to focus at school, but they would also be able to better focus on getting to school.

Lack of sleep causes an impairment of judgment, so teens, who are already fairly new drivers, are behind the wheel and unable to think or make judgments as clearly as they could. This proves to be dangerous, and sometimes fatal, for the teen drivers, themselves, and other drivers on the road. 

More sleep is not only beneficial to the students, but the teachers at school.

Starting schools just an hour later than normal would give students and staff a chance to have a healthier, well-balanced breakfast. Most students and teachers drink several cups of coffee a day so they can be awake and alert when teaching throughout the day. If school were to start later, they might not have such a dependence on caffeine.  

Pushing the start time of school back, would, accordingly, mean that the school day would end later. 

Having the school get out at 3:30 p.m. instead of at 2:18 p.m. would be more convenient for parents who have jobs and have to pick their kids up from the carpool. There’s also still plenty of time for students to get home, do homework and settle down.

Students would be more ready to attend school the next day.

Attendance rates improve when schools start at 8:30 a.m or later. When students’ attendance rates are constant, their academic rates increase. The main goal teachers have is to help their students succeed so they can walk across the stage at the end of their senior year and the diploma that they earned. So, if starting schools later helps students have a better chance of graduating, there is no reason schools should not do it.