The miserable sound of your alarm goes off. Most high schoolers can probably agree it’s like awakening to a nightmare. All you want to do is snooze it just for five more minutes to fall back to sleep. Imagine having to wake up a whole hour earlier.
With daylight saving time going into action March 9, MCCSC students, parents and faculty will have to adjust to a new schedule for morning routines and wake up times just to start the school day an hour earlier. We all know how hard it is as a high school student already… but add in earlier school start time for the spring, and it makes it nearly impossible to sit at a desk and learn all day.
That’s why MCCSC high schools should start later than 7:45 a.m. There has been evidence for decades that teenagers do better when school starts a bit later in the day.
Why do we still have daylight saving time anyway? It was invented in 1916 to extend work days during World War I. Face it, it’s no longer useful to us. Plus, studies show that in Indiana, electric bills increase by an average of $3.29 a year because of switching clocks to daylight saving time.
But even with that, not all high schoolers are early birds. Studies show sleep is very important for teenagers and if we don’t get the sleep we need, it can affect us greatly. It factors into both our mental and physical health. UCLA Health states, “[w]ithout enough shut-eye, teens struggle to regulate emotions and retain new information.”
On occasion, students can look forward to two hour delays. What’s not to like? You get to sleep in two extra hours and go to school when it’s actually light out. It makes you happier and less tired overall, therefore you will be more focused in school.
If the evidence is clear on delay days, why not make the start time later permanently? The National Library of Medicine states that students have a “0.07-0.17 higher GPA in policy change schools versus comparison schools.” There has also been evidence that later school start times result in fewer absences, late arrivals, and behavioral problems.
Furthermore, a lot of high schoolers are new drivers, and if we were to push back start times, it could lower the risk of car accidents. Students will be more awake and alert when driving to school during daylight instead of in the dark. Jacob’s Driving and Traffic School explains, “Drowsy driving is the second leading cause of deadly crashes, behind drunk driving.” Being a new driver and driving in the dark go hand and hand for disaster.
Starting later has numerous benefits, it would be a lot easier on high school students at Bloomington South. We should definitely consider pushing back our start times to allow students to be happier and perform better.
