Connie Tan
The Struggle of Waking Up Early
Connie Tan
As a high schooler who needs to be at school by 8 am, waking up early is a struggle. Often, I am exhausted in the morning, and much more when I had stayed up late finishing my homework. It is also not much better since I am taking many AP classes. Most research can agree that 80% of California schools start before 8 am. Circling last year was a California last start bill proposed by Senator Anthony Portantino, where he said that middle schools and high schools (including charter schools) should start no earlier than 8:30 am by July 1, 2021. His bill was backed up by several hospitals, universities, and association. Unfortunately, California governor Jerry Brown decided to veto the bill. He argued that passing the bill would cause problems for the schools. Schools have a particular starting time for a reason, and the bill cannot disrupt that though it is evident that one of the aims is to satisfy the needs of the parents.. Parents who have to work, such as in the office would have to get to their job early. As a result, they have to get their kids early to school as well, so they do not have to worry about them.
Despite all of that, I believe that schools should at least consider pushing back their starting time, especially for high schools. High school is the time where students like to attend many AP classes to appeal to their dream colleges. AP classes are the equivalent of college classes meaning they are much harder and more time is needed to dedicate to the course. The more AP classes the student take, the less sleep they will get. Having less sleep will then make the students sleep-deprived, which is what most California students are having right now. Sleep deprivation makes students fall asleep during class or lose their focus. AP students, as a result, are more likely not to do as well if they cannot maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Some studies showed that a lack of sleep might lead to poor behaviors of students. Having a little amount of sleep puts people in a bad mood, and that makes people eager to drink, smoke, and do drugs. It is in no doubt that high school students doing drugs is an ever growing problem right now. Students also like to drink coffee to make up their sleep, and an addiction to caffeine at a younger age can develop constant restlessness and earlier muscle tremors. In addition, sleep deprivation may also lead to symptoms of depression, obesity, and low participation in physical activities. Little sleep doesn’t only affect while students are at school. A loss of focus is bad for students who tend to drive to and from school. Accident rates will go up more because teens tend to drive recklessly. If students can have eight hours of sleep, these factors might decrease.
Other than health issues, a lack of sleep can significantly affect the student’s attendance. Maintaining good attendance is crucial. Good attendance leads to attending more lessons. Good attendance leads to more education. Good attendance leads to good grades. A failure to get to class in time because the school starts early will, unfortunately, cause students to miss out on some of the lessons. Poor attendance, in turn, will require students to make up their work, which will take away some of their sleep time. Some may argue that it is the student’s responsibility to get to school on time. But how can they uphold that responsibility if they have a mountain of work to do while needing to comply with the bell schedule? There is no saying tweaking the bell schedule is the only solution to improve students’ attendance, but it is a considerable one.
The time of adolescence is the time that shapes who we are. If we are hardworking, we are more likely to stay that way as adult. If an inadequate amount of sleep will put us into a bad mood and make us engage in unhealthy activities, then we might stay that way in the future. With so many things happening in life during adolescence, it’s hard for kids to keep up with it all. That is why having enough sleep is an important key to stay on the right path.