Why School Should Start Later

GY-13
Clarke can be a better place with later start times
We all know this; waking up to a blaring alarm or an annoyed parent. You try to bury yourself in sheets and protect yourself from the harsh light. You drag yourself out of bed with hair blown to one side of your head. Walking across the hall like an extra from “The Walking Dead,” you eat breakfast and brush (or the other way around) and throw on some clothes. You head out and start another miserable morning. This is pretty much how I start every school morning. This is probably how a lot of you start your mornings. There’s no worse way to start a day of school than to wake up with a case of “Zombie Daze Syndrome” (ZDS). One might say that waking up tired isn’t that bad, but it is way,

A report by Newsweek says that “Perpetual lack of sleep is tied to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, depression and a shortened life span in adults, underscoring the importance of establishing good sleep habits early in life”(1). We may be fine without sufficient sleep now, but health consequences will show later in life. Diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are already big problems in America. An article by CNN says that “Adolescents that go to sleep at midnight or later are also more likely to suffer from depression and have suicidal thoughts” (1). The mental health of students at Clarke should not be overlooked. Some students--kids in this school are probably going through some dark times. Up at the high school, “55 LHS students reported they recently tried to commit suicide at least once (3%). The Massachusetts average for attempted suicide among teenagers/young adults was 7% over the same time period (4.1% for comparison high schools). Additionally, 247 students (15% of those surveyed) seriously considered suicide - the highest level in a decade.” These numbers are real, and this issue is right here, and right now in our very own town of Lexington. By having school start a bit later, we would be saving