Starting Early: How it Affects Students

Dunkin’ cups, energy drinks and coffee: These are three staples of 7 a.m. mornings at Woodland for both students and staff. Despite all that caffeine, two words can almost always be heard: “I’m tired.”

For students, the kick-start to their morning is the sound of an alarm clock, the horns of traffic, and the bell that tells them when to arrive at class. But oftentimes, students are completing these activities with an insufficient amount of sleep. A random sample of 30 students showed that the average student only sleeps 6.4 hours per night. For some students depending on their waking time and their mode of transportation to go to school. Students taking the bus may have to get up earlier or for students driving themselves they may be able to sleep in a little more.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high school-aged people should be getting at least eight hours of sleep per night. As evidenced by the study conducted within the school, students are definitely not getting that amount of sleep per night.

“I doomscroll on TikTok for 20 hours a day,” explained sleepless sophomore Sophia Murphy. “That’s why I only get four hours of sleep per night.”

In an American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) article, this sleep deprivation comes tardiness to school, sleepiness during class, and lower grade point averages (GPAs) due to the lack of sleep and lateness, which can cause students to either not pay attention to class material or miss it if they are late.

The National Education Association (NEA) article, the earliest time that a high school should start is 8:30 a.m. A separate article done by the American Psychological Association, starting later can help improve GPAs and have a positive impact on students’ behavior.

For the students of Woodland, it is more than just starting early; it is also ending late. For Woodland, almost 70 percent of the student body is involved in school sports. Many are also involved in clubs, club sports, have jobs, or have other extracurricular activities that they participate in.

When students don’t get home until late they still have many commitments, such as homework, eating, showering, and relaxing before they go to bed. Woodland senior Emma DeGeorge shared her afternoon commitments, demonstrating how she does not get home until almost 8 p.m o’clock every night.

“Usually I have practice or a game at around three o’clock and it lasts around three hours,” said DeGeorge. “By the time we clean up, I don’t get home until almost 8 p.m. Then I do homework, shower, blow dry my hair and unwind before I go to bed around midnight.”

Now, while some students are busier than others, there is no doubt that the students of Woodland have many commitments, and that the time that school starts may be a little too early. This sleep deficit that students face can lead to many things: impaired memory, irritability, and reduced focus, according to the CDC article. If students are not going to bed until midnight, they’re probably only getting six hours of sleep before they have to get up to go to school the next day. As this is an unhealthy amount of sleep, getting out early is probably not worth the sleep sacrifice that students make.

https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data-research/facts-stats/high-school-students-sleep-facts-and-stats.html