Do you struggle to get up early in the morning? Do you find yourself feeling restless and having a hard time focusing in class? Millions of high school students also relate to this troublesome routine.

School starting times usually become earlier and earlier as a student grows up. Elementary school starts the latest, middle school starts a bit earlier, and high school has the greatest difference from elementary. 

Many argue that schools should start early because of extracurriculars and other events, but is that the case?

After conducting multiple experiments on students and measuring test scores, washington.edu found that students who started school at a later time scored 4.5% higher on their final grades than students who continued to start early. 

Schools starting later don’t just benefit students academically, but also medically. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, it is recommended that teenagers get 8-10 hours of sleep to maintain good health. Not getting a good amount of sleep has been proven to lead to conflicts in and outside of school.

Freshman Emma Ventura agrees that the lack of sleep is an issue. “I want to get more sleep since I have to stay up late working on homework,” she responds. Ventura is involved in a plethora of clubs that leave her little time to work on homework from the challenging courses she takes.

Of course, schools starting later would bring up an issue with parents going to work. Many parents want to see their children go to school before comfortably driving away to their job. This is especially a problem for younger children. 

As for teens, parents leaving before the child goes to school would bring a sense of responsibility that can teach them important lessons, such as time management, organization, and independence.