Anyone who has ever stepped foot in a first period classroom at Hayes knows that there is one thing most students have in common: teens are tired.
According to a survey sent out at Hayes with over 440 respondents, 71% of students say they are almost always tired at school. On top of that, 88% of students – nearly 9 in 10 – believe that school starts too early at Hayes.
The laziness and low energy often associated with teenagers is really due to biology. During puberty, their circadian rhythm, or internal clock, changes from when one is a young child or adult. Staying up late and sleeping in is how teens’ bodies actually work. According to the National Institute of Health, teenagers experience around a one to three hour delay in circadian rhythm with the peak of this delay during the 15-21 age range.
Adolescent change in the biological clock holds true even under controlled sleep circumstances in research studies. Accordingly, this trait has been observed in adolescent rhesus monkeys and laboratory rats, meaning that the change in teenagers’ internal clock isn’t just associated with culture, but biology.
Due to their circadian rhythm, a teenager going to sleep at 11 p.m. would be the same as an adult going to sleep at nine p.m. Similarly, a teenager waking up at six a.m. feels the same as an adult waking up at three a.m. The other way around, an adult waking up at six a.m. could be compared to a teenager waking up at nine a.m.—does that sound familiar?
According to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, teenagers need approximately 9 hours of sleep at night, or 540 minutes. At Hayes, this standard is not reached. In fact, this standard seems to barely even exist with 60% of students going to sleep at 11 p.m. or later, and 92.7% of students waking up at six a.m. or earlier. This would result in them only getting seven hours of sleep each night.
Tired teens means tired drivers. The National Institute of Health reports that for every hour decrease in sleep, the chance of a motor vehicle crash is increased by 13%.
According to a study done by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, there is a direct relationship between earlier school start times and increased student car crashes. The study concluded that later school start times lead to decreased accidents.
When connected to circadian rhythm, a teenager driving to school at 7 a.m. is equivalent to an adult driving at around 4 a.m. Now add a freshly minted driver’s license and an undeveloped prefrontal cortex. The evidence speaks for itself.
Another thing that sleep deprivation causes is the unhealthy ingestion of caffeine in teenagers. Students with little sleep may turn towards energy drinks and coffee to keep them awake. According to the University of Michigan, teenagers ages 12-18 shouldn’t intake more than 100 mg of caffeine a day. Over 30% of students at Hayes report consuming energy drinks or coffee almost every day.
The FDA says caffeine intake in children and teenagers can cause increased heart rate, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, anxiety, and lead to sleep problems, digestive problems and dehydration. Celsius, which according to The Guardian is the third most popular energy drink in the U.S., contains 200 mg. of caffeine. The also popular Starbucks Cold Brew contains 205 mg. Students drinking double the amount of caffeine they should is a clear issue that is caused by the lack of sleep they receive.
In addition, the National Library of Medicine released research that stated later school start times lead to decreased truancy and drop out rates. Aside from that, homework, extracurriculars, and overall quality of life can be harmed by the dangers of sleep deprivation. Two professors at MIT found a correlation between sleep duration and school performance. Students who received more sleep got better grades.
It turns out that sleeping leads to success, and what school wouldn’t want their students to be successful?
Though some may argue this is an extreme idea, it is already relevant in schools throughout Ohio. Delaware’s neighboring school, Worthington Kilbourne high school, starts at 8:40 a.m., more than an hour later than Hayes’ 7:25 a.m. start.
Overall, the numbers are clear—students at Hayes are sleep deprived, and it’s not their fault. In order to make school better not just for students, but for teachers, administrators, and the future of society, school should start later.
