As Del Val students know, attending school is something that all teenagers have to do in order to earn the proper education, diplomas, and the jobs they want. School offers students endless opportunities, but although school provides success, it also has various challenges. The main challenge of the school day is how early it begins. Pushing back the beginning of the school day can drastically change the success of students’ health and focus.

School days commonly begin between the hours of 7 and 9 o’clock, depending on where the school is located and depending on whether the school is elementary, middle, or high school level. Starting later in the day allows the students to gain more sleep and revive their bodies before a 7 hour day of focusing on lectures or completing worksheets or assessments. Most students stay up  much later than they should in order to finish homework after their extra-curricular activities finish, and they wake up a few hours later to go to school. Some get up even earlier in order to give the themselves time to do homework in the morning instead of doing it after a long day of school and activities.

When students have to wake up early and go to school, studies from the National Sleep Foundation show that teens “are among those least likely to get enough sleep; while they need on average 9 1/4 hours of sleep per night for optimal performance, health and brain development, teens average fewer than 7 hours per school night by the end of high school, and most report feeling tired during the day.” To prevent this problem, pushing back the school day could minimize this constant feeling of tiredness.

To conclude, the change that could benefit all students should be considered now. The school holds the children that are our future. Teens with sleep deprivation can cause stress, problems paying attention, and even in very severe cases, signs of depression due to the constant worry of school being the only “activity” they can attend. Without a later school day, children’s level of academics, grades, sports, and even happiness could decrease.