It’s the School’s Fault Students are Tired!

On Wednesday, February 7th, scientists released a study on what makes students so tired, and the results shocked the world. Between homework and doom scrolling, many students fall asleep late into the night, but despite popular belief, this phenomenon is not what keeps students in a state of constant tiredness. Instead, Schools are at fault. By making students wake up early in the morning, schools throw off the circadian rhythm of students following a standard teenage sleep schedule.

99% of students fall asleep at midnight or later, the last 1% being a statistical anomaly. Most students only get 6 hours or less of sleep every night. Schools and parents alike have argued for years that students just need to “go to sleep earlier” or “spend less time on their phone”, making it seem like the students are the reason for their lack of sleep, even though they still ask students to wake up at outrageous times to get to school such as 7 AM or in some cases even 6 AM. This caused researchers to ask the question: What if, instead, school started later?

Many researchers are now calling for the school to start at 2 PM so that students can effectively use their night and still learn effectively by not being tired. This proposition would allow for improvement and growth in student’s ability to learn and perform better in many areas not limited to studies and sports. While the legal battle continues, some students find it easier just to take it into their own hands.

“I always thought that looking at my phone for hours at a time instead of sleeping was causing me to be tired, but this makes so much more sense,” says a local student, who recently started skipping his first two classes to match his sleep schedule. “Sure, now I’m failing four classes because I don’t attend them, but I can balance school and time on my phone so much better.” This student isn’t alone in this observation, as many more students are choosing not to attend classes to prioritize their much-needed time staying up.

But it’s not just students who are calling for this change, with teachers also wanting more time to sleep. “After I started teaching I found all the joy sucked out of my life. While initially, I thought the root of this problem was my students, it turns out that all of us would enjoy school more if it started at 2 pm,”  says a high school teacher. “I can drink coffee in the morning and be happy at school, it’s crazy!”

School needs to change and accept that the natural sleep pattern of teens is staying up until 3 AM and scrolling the web. Without the much-needed time spent on their phone or watching a TV show they don’t care about, any student can struggle in school. Austin High, starting at 2 PM, isn’t just a debate on sleep, but a debate on every student’s future.