Isabelle hasn't had a decent night's sleep in almost a month. Final exams are approaching, but that doesn't mean his workload has eased. In addition to studying for final exams, he also has to work on a ten-page English essay and a history project, in addition to the usual two-hour minimum of evening math homework and drafting an economics chapter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Even though Isabelle tries to minimize procrastination, she always ends up working late into the night and past midnight. In the morning she wakes up at five so as not to miss the bus, which happens more often than normal. When she finally arrives at school, Isabelle is too exhausted to come close to functioning normally. Isabelle's story is something that almost every high school student can relate to, and that is not acceptable. For the sake of students, a reform of school start times is necessary. While it's common for high school students to complain about school, it must be admitted that the most common complaint from students is that they didn't get enough sleep. The National Sleep Foundation states that “most teens need 9.25 hours of sleep per night” (“Snooze Control” 5). The simplest answer would be that teens should simply go to bed earlier, but the solution isn't as simple as it seems. In fact, adolescents are biologically programmed to fall asleep later than children and adults. According to the NSF, “going to sleep earlier doesn't help. While most adults' bodies release a chemical that signals it's time for bed around 9:30 p.m., in adolescents that chemical isn't released until 10:30 p.m., making it difficult to sleep before 11 p.m. (“Snooze Control” 5). Since telling teens to go to bed earlier has been shown to not be an effective solution, the only other way to ensure that teens get full rest is to push back school start times. One benefit of a later start time would be that families would have more time to prepare for school. When you are forced to wake up early in the morning so as not to be late, your brain is not fully functioning. Researchers have found that waking up too early means that “memory, reaction time, the ability to perform basic mathematical tasks, as well as alertness and attention are affected” (Konnikova 4). If the brain functions so poorly when waking up too early, a student may end up forgetting something important at home in the pandemonium and rushing to go to school. Forgetful students not only harm themselves by failing to turn in an important assignment, but they also burden their teachers. Another possible outcome is that a student might be so lethargic that they miss the bus and this would cause parents to have to drive their children to school, or the student might miss the entire day. If students had the opportunity to rest a little more, waking up would be easier and they would be able to think more clearly. This would also benefit their parents, as the mornings would become less hectic. An additional reason why schools should address the problem of teens not getting enough rest is that sleep deprivation has a negative impact on student performance. Sleep-deprived students are less able to pay attention in class and learn topics. As stated by.
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