Do you wake up feeling tired? Are you not a morning person? Does getting up before the sun sound like torture? If you answered yes to any of these questions you might wonder one thing. Why does our school start at 7:55? 4 different students give their opposing opinions about whether the school start time should be pushed back later or stay the same.
On one side is Freshman Cameron Isveck. She wakes up at 6:40 every day, and believes the school start time should be pushed back later.
“Most high school kids have extra-curricular activities on top of a large amount of homework that sometimes has to be done really late. So school starting later can give a chance to people with busy schedules to have a good nights sleep for an efficient school day.”
For students with a busy schedule after school, start time can be a contentious issue. Courtney Lake is a Sophomore who believes the opposite. wakes up at 6:00. She believes the school start time is already good. They have already pushed the start time back from 7:35 to 7:55, and she believes it leaves the perfect time for clubs and activities later in the day. She also takes a hard stance on the amount of sleep that students would get if they changed the time again.
“If they make [the start time] later, people are just going to stay up later… I’m the person who gets a lot of sleep, I go to bed at 9:00 every night. Some people who go to bed at, like, 1:00 in the morning are affected [by the start time] and are not going to change [what time they wake up].”
Olivia Pierce, a Junior that wakes up at 6:00 in the morning, has a similar stance on students who stay up late.
“100% my amount of sleep affects my school performance, which is why I always strive for 9 hours. The same people who complain about pulling all nighters are the people who fall asleep in class which just causes them to miss material and pull more all nighters. I’m very pro-sleep”
Mitzi Crowe is a Sophomore who wakes up around 6:18. She believe that waking up too early can affect students’ performance negatively, and she speaks from personal experience.
“I’m just too tired to work on anything”
Cameron agreed, and backs up her point that school start times should be moved back, by arguing the negative effects it has on students’ brains and on their grades.
“When we’ve gotten little sleep, not only are our bodies not awake, but our brains aren’t fully awake either. We can’t pay as much attention in our classes which may cause consequences in the future like not knowing something that might be in a quiz or test.”
Whether you think school start time should be moved back, or it should stay the same, it is imperative for students to get a good night’s rest to succeed in school.