After an excruciating night of long hours of homework, I finally make it to bed, just after 11 p.m. I’m exhausted, after having school for seven hours, and sports practice for two hours right after that. I won’t be asleep for long; my alarm goes off seven hours later.
In the morning, I can’t get out of bed. I have no motivation to get up, and all I want to do is go back to sleep for just a couple more hours. I’m tired, and as I drag myself to school, I feel unproductive.
Later start times would allow for more productivity and for more success between students and teachers. The early morning hours of school are extremely hurtful to students. Students are not focused in class, and as a result, are not getting the most out of lectures and classwork.
But being excessively tired doesn’t just reduce focus and productivity; it also damages mental and physical health. For decades, many medical professionals have researched and compared how students, teachers and parents act based on the start time of their school. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a statement asserting that middle and high schools should not start earlier than 8:30 a.m.
In 2023, Howard County and Anne Arundel County, neighboring MCPS, passed a resolution to change their start times. The school systems announced that due to extreme sleep deprivation in students, high schools could not start earlier than 8 a.m. Many classes were slept through due to the lack of a good night’s rest for students. With this change, students were able to actually go to their classes and retain instruction, instead of falling asleep.
With that being said, there are a couple of downsides to later start times. In Montgomery County, the biggest issue is buses and sports. With limited fields and courts, there just isn’t enough time for every sport to practice on their preferred field if school has to go an hour longer. Not every sport would be able to practice before it got dark. There are also not enough bus drivers for both middle and high school to start at a similar time.
Still, the benefits by far outweigh the drawbacks. Mental health is a key factor that is affecting so many people across the county. Lack of sleep is a key component of mental health. According to the NIH, sleep problems or lack of sleep can be a huge contributor to mental health issues, like PTSD and depression. Inadequate amounts of sleep allow for impaired emotional regulation. Changing start times would allow students to come to school ready to work, instead of stressed and tired. The Sleep Foundation explains that just being able to sleep for 1-2 additional hours allows the brain to function better and retain information at a higher level.
But until the county pushes back start times, my alarm will be set for 6:10 a.m.
