The clock beamed 1:37 AM in glowing red digits burning my retinas, as I laid wide awake. I had already tried everything: counting sheep, breathing techniques, even out some sleep meditation app my mom suggested but nothing seemed to help. I just couldn’t stop tossing and turning. My train of thought seemed like it would never run out of fuel as it chugged along its never-ending track, clouds of steam blowing out the top: thoughts of the math quiz I hardly studied for, the group project in history, and the soccer game after school.

I spiraled long and deep into anxiety before I finally fell asleep. “BEEP BEEP BEEP” my psychotic alarm screams at me because it’s time to wake up. I slept for four hours and as I dragged myself out of bed, still half-asleep, I already knew the day would be miserable. However, this isn’t just a personal experience or one particular night, it’s a cycle that many teenagers find themselves stuck in. Early school start times force them to wake up before their bodies are naturally ready, leaving them perpetually sleep-deprived. If schools started later and students were allowed to wake up naturally, they’d be healthier, happier, and better prepared to learn.

School start times are so early because of practical decisions that were made based upon historical societal problems before we had as good of an understanding of sleep as we have now. Universal school start times are tied to the standardization of public school schedules in the late 19th century. Back then, communities chose to have school start times around 9 AM because children were expected to help with chores, like milking cows or tending fields, before going to school. However, as society industrialized, school schedules changed to accommodate urban life and factory shifts, shifting schools’ start times earlier, around 8 am instead of 9 am.

Parents working long hours needed schools to act as a form of childcare, so starting early and ending mid-afternoon fit the needs of working families. When school buses became widespread in the mid-20th century, transportation logistics also influenced start times. Unfortunately, when all these decisions were made, we had very little knowledge of adolescent biology. We now know that having later school start times could benefit teenagers in many ways, and we should go back to the 9 am start times of the late 19th century. Despite this, many schools resist the change and stick to outdated start times out of habit, even though it conflicts with what we now know about what is best for teenagers.

Some might propose a seemingly simple and obvious solution to sleep deprivation that does not involve changing school start times: going to bed earlier. However, it is not that easy: during puberty teenagers’ circadian cycle, their internal clock, shifts, which among other biopsychosocial changes during this period, leads to a delayed sleep phase. A delayed sleep phase is natural for teenagers, but it renders them incapable of falling asleep before 11:00 pm, or potentially later in some cases. This, coupled with schools starting frequently as early as 7:30 am, prevents teenagers from getting the crucial 8-10 hours of sleep per night they need in order to be healthy, happy, and capable of learning.

While some schools have begun shifting to later start schedule, this remains a widespread and current issue that many teens struggle with. In fact, a 2023 study found that only 8% of high school students actually get 8-10 hours of sleep on school nights. As well as being widespread and lacking a simple solution, the consequences of sleep deprivation for teenagers are greatly detrimental. It can cause impaired cognitive function, decreased academic performance, increased risk of depression and anxiety, and even higher rates of suicide. Being a teenager is already overwhelming and anxiety inducing enough without being sleep deprived, but now that science has shown how powerfully sleep deprivation can change your life, something needs to change.

Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, some argue that later school start times would be impractical. Logistical concerns, such as scheduling after-school activities or childcare for working parents, are often used as reasons to maintain the current schedule. However, while real, these concerns can be managed and resolved. As a parent, you can always reschedule a piano lesson, but if your child is depressed, or worse has commited suicide because of sleep deprivation, these are much harder, if not impossible, issues to fix. On top of this, there are many schools that have already implemented later start times, including a local pittsburgh school, Avonworth whose principal said, “Two big hurdles for any district considering a change will be adjusting transportation and commitments to established extracurricular activities, Ralston said, but it’s doable.” Ultimately, the benefits for student health, well-being, and learning far outweigh the challenges.  

 Personally, when I am sleep-deprived, it feels to me like someone or something is taking my sleep from me, as is the nature of deprivation. So, going to the very place that deprives me and then expects me to be excited and ready to learn while I’m still half asleep, leaves me frustrated. This frustration towards school builds up and leads me to dislike school as I am left feeling this way five days a week. It’s sad to watch as something as amazing as school becomes something I dread. Yet, dread it I need not, for a simple solution exists, and is already being successfully undertaken by a few progressive schools throughout the US. It’s time for the rest of us to wake up, look at the facts, and change the system for the betterment of our youth.