Students face a lot during the school year. Between academics, sports, clubs, music, and after school activities, six hours of sleep may just not be enough. To balance all these responsibilities and still show up for school at 7:15 a.m., we often sacrifice a good night’s sleep-but could we also be sacrificing our health?

For adolescents and teenagers, sleep is crucial-not only how much sleep they get, but when they go to sleep and when they wake up. Scientific studies have found that people have an “internal clock,” meaning that there is a time that we naturally fall asleep and wake up at. These times differ with age. Teenagers’ habits of falling asleep and waking up late are not due to laziness, but to their natural sleep cycles. At least 9-10 hours of sleep at night are recommended for teenagers. However, because they naturally fall asleep later but are out of bed before the sun is out, they are lucky to get seven hours. In an informal poll taken of juniors at NKHS, the average amount of sleep a student gets per night is 6-7 hours.

The start time at North Kingstown High School of 7:15 a.m. and the amount of sleep required for students to be healthy don’t correspond. So, why do we start school so early? The start time for North Kingstown is set in order to cooperate with the bus services. When considering changing the start time, the elementary and middle schools have to be considered as well. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a start time of 8:30 a.m. for schools, a delay would dramatically affect the plans for bus services and after school activities.

So, how would it affect the students? As studies have shown, students who are sleep deprived can suffer from physical or mental health problems and show a decline in academic performance. Junior Kate Thomas said, “Academically, I feel like I would do better in school because a later start time would allow me to get more sleep, and therefore I’d be more focused during a school day.”

Many students who participate in after school sports said they wouldn’t mind their practices being delayed, if it meant they could get an hour more of sleep each morning. As most after school practices don’t start until 2:30 or later, a hypothetical school day from 8:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. appealed to a majority of students that were asked.

Numbers of scientific studies have been done to show that students need more sleep than what their middle or high school start times allow. A well-rested student has a reduced risk of being overweight, suffering from depression, and has better grades and higher standardized test scores. Sleep deprivation in adolescents puts them at increased risk for automobile accidents, increases stress levels, declines their academic performance and may have long term effects on their mental and physical health.

It’s clear that health should not be overlooked by convenience. Although it would call for a lot of changes, both good and bad, a majority of students agree in the fact that overall, a later start time would be beneficial.