I trundle out of bed at
about 5:45 in the morning every weekday to get ready for school. I usually come
home from school at 2:40 and I still have many other extra curricular activities
to do. I go to tennis practice, have piano lessons, and still have homework to
be done. Even though I’m tired and exhausted I still stay up until 10pm talking
to my friends, cleaning my room, eating dinner, taking a shower, studying again
and then finally relaxing. I’m sick and tired of getting up early every morning
for school and it’s pointless. I’m not even awake until the end of second period
and many people agree with me that school starts too early.
Mandarin High School
and many other high schools start around or before 7:30 am .It has been proven
that teenagers who start school around 8:30 have a longer attention span and
have higher grade point averages than students who begin school at such a
ridiculously early hour of the morning. In Minnesota, some school districts are
experimenting with later school starting times. Kyla Walhstrom, associate
director of the Center for Applied Research in Educational Improvement at the
University of Minnesota, has studied the results of the new experiment.
“Teachers are saying, 'This is a remarkable change. The attention that is being
paid in my first-hour class is so vast; I can't get over the difference that one
hour of sleep makes.”
Lack of sleep is a
national epidemic for today’s teens, and the consequences are serious. A
continuing lack of sleep can lead to massive health problems such as diabetes,
obesity, heart disease, depression, and a shortened life span. Sleepy teenagers
are very dangerous and they are a huge hazard to the road. More than half of the
yearly 100,000 U.S car accidents are caused by sleepy teenagers.
After hearing this
information, wouldn’t you agree that the time for change is now?
