Students come to BFA tired and have a hard time performing well in school. BFA’s early start time makes it difficult for students to get a healthy amount of sleep, which can negatively affect both their mental and physical health as well as academic performance.
It is a fact, according to Better Health Channel, that teenagers need eight to ten hours of sleep per night. However, because of sports, extracurricular activities, homework, and long commutes, most students do not get enough sleep. Sophia Oszurek, a BFA senior, who does many extracurricular activities and AP classes, stated, “I get home late and have a lot of homework that makes me stay up late.” Many students like Sophia struggle getting the right amount of sleep at night due to the school start time. There is a lot of research backing up the argument to push back the school start times, yet schools like BFA don’t listen. Although BFA’s start time is later than some, it still begins earlier than the 8:30 start time many researchers suggest as the earliest healthy option.
Oura Ring data, a ring that tracks sleep cycles, says “Humans are designed to wake when the sun rises and sleep when it sets.” Light exposure is what helps regulate your internal clock, which is what wakes you up naturally. The data shows that sunlight in the mornings, preferably 30-60 minutes after waking up, is shown to increase alertness, boost mood, lower stress, and improve sleep quality. Along with improving your sleep at night. When school starts early, it goes against professional advice and works against the natural circadian rhythm.
NeaToday states that adolescents who don’t get enough sleep have an increased risk of being overweight, suffering from depression, and struggling academically. The CDC says that around 31% of American teens suffer from some kind of mental health problem. According to the National Library of Medicine, improving sleep can lead to a significant medium-sized effect on composite mental health. Comparisons of earlier U.S school start times of between 7:30-8:00 with the recommended 8:30-9:00, you can see how the benefits of just 30 minutes can help students’ well-being. This 30-minute delay can increase attendance and academic performance.
Many factors outside of students’ control that increase the difficulty of arriving at school well-rested are students’ living and parking situations. Transportation and parking issues require some students to wake up much earlier than necessary. Students who live further away have to leave earlier, and the limited parking adds to the stress of getting to school on time. These components prove that by having school start too early, we are letting our students and staff down and setting them up for failure. The conditions contribute to stressful mornings and loss of sleep.
BFA has many opportunities to push back the start time, including making school end a half hour later or removing extra minutes in the day, like enrichment or advisory. The benefits, such as better mental health and academic performance, prove that BFA should move its start time later in the morning.
