Overall students average six hours of sleep or less on school nights. The average rest required for kids now is around eight hours.
The APTA said, “Seven out of ten high school students report not getting sufficient sleep on school nights.”
It is important to take care of yourself, especially during maturing. Less sleep causes fatigue and higher chances of having an increase in stress and anxiety.
More sleep could lead to higher test scores along with better focus in general.
Not only that, most importantly, it could be very beneficial to mental health due to better mood regulation from rest. This could mean less anxiety along with a decrease in depression for students.
US News said, “Later school start times can significantly benefit student mental health by allowing for more sleep, which improves mood, reduces stress, and potentially lowers rates of depression and anxiety.”
Though it seems starting later may be more beneficial, there are still some strong disadvantages. These include issues with schedules, after school activities such as sports or clubs and transportation.
An example of a negative effect on later start times for schools would be how badly low income schools would be impacted as well. Considering schools already have a limited budget, attempting to change schedule times for buses or bus drivers can be costly.
Considering things are set with school starting so early, it may be best to continue to stay with that rather than causing confusion with schools. Even though schools starting later may be more beneficial, so would starting early.
