Have you ever wished that school would start later? Many students and teachers have or at least considered it in the last few decades. Sleep is what keeps humans moving and alive. The more sleep we have, the better we function. Almost everything is better when you have gotten adequate sleep, so there is no reason to want less sleep.

One thing teenagers always need is sleep. Many students are up around 6-7 AM to get ready for school. Teenagers need at least 9 hours of sleep to feel rested throughout the day. This will also result in better mental, physical, and emotional health. That will also lead to better grades and participation. They also need to make sure that they get enough of it, but with school needing them to get up before 7 AM it is quite hard. If a student needed to get 9 hours of sleep and wake up at 6 AM, they would need to go to bed at 9 PM. This is difficult considering that there are tests to study for and homework to be completed. Some students hold jobs or participate in activities after school giving them few hours to relax if that.

Some people may argue that starting school later is a bad idea because that means that school will also let out later. This seems to be the only con to the idea, but there are way more pros than cons. Letting out one hour later is also not that terrible, since students would be able to get out early for sports, clubs, or work if necessary. Students are also less likely to take a nap right after school since they would be less tired than usual. This would result in more productivity.  

If schools would start their classes one hour later, students and teachers would find it easier to get enough sleep for the upcoming day. Starting at a later time has many pros. Sleep is the most important for teenagers and they definitely need it at this stage in their life. Waking up later also means that it is brighter outside which usually makes it easier for most to get up in the morning. If students feel better in the morning, they might also be more likely to eat breakfast which will give them even more energy until lunch rolls around. If necessary, students can get some homework or activities done before school starts because they will be slightly more awake.

Schools need to delay their start times after thinking about it for all of these years. There are too many pros to pass up and not enough cons to make anyone ignore the topic. Sleeping is very beneficial to everyone but even more so for teenagers. Sleep is a necessity that affects all aspects of life and without it students are not at their best.