Catching Zzz's

More times than not, high school students do not gain nearly the amount of sleep that would be considered healthy.  Most of my friends stay up past 12 a.m. on school nights and have to wake up only 6 hours later.  According to many studies done by researchers looking into this topic, kids, especially growing teens, should be getting 8-10 hours of sleep each night.  Should schools in America be pushing back high school start times?  I personally think so, but it is definitely a subject worthy of discussion.



My idea for high schools and school districts nationwide is to implement a reversed schedule.  A reversed schedule is exactly what it sounds like: it reverses the times of elementary schools and high schools, letting the high schools start around 9 a.m. and having the elementary school students start at the original high school time, which is usually around 7 a.m.  What this does is it gives the older students not only more time to sleep, but time to do work.  High school students are exponentially more demanded by their classes than elementary school students are.  For a high school student like myself, to play a sport, do homework, study, and then practice SAT's and ACT's in one night is a lot.  I think many high school students would sympathize with my plan, and I hope that this idea can gain further recognition around the country.