San Luis Obispo High School homerooms are filled with tired students. Whether it’s waking up too early, or going to sleep too late, sleep is definitely a problem. It is proven that students will work better with more sleep and that teenagers have a tendency to stay up later and sleep in.
Many of these proofs are from doctors, who recommend that teenagers get at least eight to nine hours of sleep. So SLOHS should move the start of school further back to benefit our students time and productivity. Teachers and staff constantly say that students should get lots of sleep to be healthy, but SLOHS still starts school at 8:00 a.m. So, why does SLOHS start so early?
The average amount of sleep high school students get per school night is 7-7.25 hours of sleep. These low hours of sleep can lead to students being cranky or irritable, also to engage in risky behaviors like drinking and driving fast. But most importantly for school, low amounts of sleep can cause problems with attention, memory, decision making, reaction time, and creativity. This then can lead to students getting low grades, tardiness, and sleeping in class. This is why students should be able to have more time for sleep in the morning, so waking up early doesn’t affect high school students grades, and wellness in general.
“We should move the start of school later because a lot of students stay up late to get their homework done. And a lot of students have anxiety from school that they can’t get to sleep until really late. It isn’t healthy to go to sleep that late or wake up that early. I usually fall asleep around 1:00 a.m. and wake up at 5:30 a.m. Which isn’t healthy for anybody, so I think for the school to say that we need to sleep but not give us extra time in the morning isn’t a good way to support SLOHS students’ health,” said freshmen Ava Buschur.
Also, a lot of SLOHS students are in high school sports and other activities outside of school. So with being tired daily, students also are recommended nine to ten hours of sleep if they are taking any sport. In athletics rest and recovery is a big part for muscle build up. When you rest athletes are adapting to the stress with exercise, replenishing muscle glycogen (energy storages), and letting body tissues repair. So when athletes don’t get the right amount of sleep daily, they are at risk of losing aerobic endurance and having changes in hormone levels, which leads to more stress for your body.
As a SLOHS student-athlete, I know the struggle of being tired in the morning. Like most SLOHS students I have trouble getting up in the morning and getting to school on time. And not just in the mornings but throughout most of the school day I feel a sense of tiredness and take some breaks from the work to rest my head on the table. All in all, I think it would be a great improvement for SLOHS students and staff to have more time in the mornings to get ready and to have the opportunity for a healthier life.
