Numerous high schoolers have very busy schedules, and more often than not, spend their nights catching up on any school work and socializing that they missed out on during the day. The majority of teens in high school find it nearly impossible to put a stop to their hectic lives at night in order to get the amount of sleep they need. This is why school should not start any earlier in the morning than it already does. 

According to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the average high school student gets around seven hours of sleep on a school night. This may seem like a decent amount, however students should be getting at least nine hours of sleep every night in order to reach their full potential. These two hours of sleep that students are missing out on can cause a huge difference in many aspects of a teen’s life. Sleep is something that is necessary for all people, however when it comes to teenagers, sleep deprivation is much more serious. Sleep deprivation can cause negative changes in mood, behavior, attention span and academic performance. All of these factors are also very important in a school setting and giving students even fewer opportunities to sleep would just make all of these factors worse. 

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, after performing a study on teens, reported that “teens who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to suffer from depression or perform poorly in school. Sleepy teens also have a higher risk of being involved in a drowsy driving accident. Research suggests that teen car crash rates are higher when school starts earlier in the morning.” This proves that getting more sleep would not only help teens with their productivity, but with their overall safety as well. 

Being tired is not the only effect early starts can have in high school students. The physical health of teens can be at risk as well. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, teenagers who get shorter amounts of sleep are more likely to get less than the necessary amount of physical activity. This can cause students to have numerous health problems as they grow older. 

Although the idea of high school starting earlier may be appealing to some students and parents as the school day would end sooner, the cons heavily outweigh the benefits proving earlier school days would be a bad fit for high school students.