Picture a stereotypical teenager trying to get out of bed for school at 6 am. For most people, this is certainly not a pleasant sight. A teenager likely thinks of mornings as an ugly fight while parents fear that staying in bed encourages laziness and irresponsibility. Currently there are schools that start as early as 7 am and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that 83% of the nation starts before 8:30 am (Szabo). Research has shown that most mental development occurs during middle and high school. Based on these realities, a debate has sparked over when the school day begins. One side believes that starting school later is illogical, citing changed schedules, disorganized teens, and less time for extracurriculars. The other side, believes that sleep time correlates with academic success and mental development. According to these …show more content…
One psychologist, AR Wolfson, studied a variety of scenarios with varying school bell start times and how they affect students’ bedtime. Across the board, the research showed that earlier school start times forced teens to go to bed at “unfeasible or unreasonable” (205) times, which was not always possible because students have too much going on outside of school. After school activities like music, theatre, or varsity sports can take up to five hours a day. This means that they might not get home to eat dinner and begin their homework until after 8:00 p.m. Total sleep, overall, increases when the students are allowed to sleep in later - something that many parents forget. This all relates back to the scientific fact that adolescent’s bodies do not release melatonin until 12 pm, and once this happens they fall asleep shortly after. When teenagers are allowed to sleep later, they are able to fit everything into their day, while performing at a higher