*BEEP*, *BEEP*, *BEEP*! I force my eyes open and groggily reach for the snooze button on my alarm clock. “It can’t be time already,” I think to myself. It’s 5:30 am and I stumble out of bed to get ready for school---I just never seem to have enough time to sleep. Waking up late is the worst, especially when I have to rush out of the house without breakfast or a lunch. On the way to school, thoughts of crawling back into my warm, cozy bed buzz through my mind. “Just my pillow and a Pop-Tart would do the trick…”



The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) calls sleep “food for the brain”, and recommends 9 ¼ hours of sleep each night. The Foundation goes on to say that without enough “food” each night, a student’s overall performance will suffer. Spending up to two hours doing homework every day drains even more of my energy. If I decide to take a nap, my time out of school is not utilized the way I’d like it to be. When I get the chance to, I like to read and help my parents run errands. Students who play sports or participate in after-school activities, which often keep them at school past 6 or 7 pm, will not have enough time to finish their homework and still get the recommended amount of sleep every night.

The NSF explains that sleepiness can hurt your scores on school exams, too. Unfortunately, my first period class is my most challenging and my exam grades don’t benefit from my drowsiness. Maybe it’s just my logic, but with more time to sleep in the morning, students will go to school refreshed and awake, ready to start the day with any challenges they might face. One’s ability to listen, learn, concentrate, and solve problems is limited when s/he does not sleep enough. Aggravation and poor skin are also a result of sleep deprivation---the last thing a teen wants when s/he wakes up in the morning is a zit the size of a grapefruit on his/her face.

One might argue that a student should get to bed earlier to insure enough sleep. The National Sleep Foundation clarifies that it is normal for an adolescent not to be able to fall sleep before 11 pm. A child’s biological sleep pattern will often “shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking up.” The difference for me is that on the weekends I get to roll out of bed as late as I please, but during the school week I am forced to get up before I am fully awake. An hour of extra sleep each night adds up to five more hours of sleep a week.

I don’t mind doing homework, nor do I complain when I have to stay after school for extra studying; still, I am exhausted when I finally get home and have chores yet to do. The slightest bit of extra sleep in the morning would make a world of difference in the education of any student. A fully-rested adolescent’s overall well-being will improve. More time before school would also mean better cleanliness, healthy packed lunches, and time to eat breakfast. Starting school just one hour later would get rid of many problems plaguing students, and I for one would take advantage of every extra minute of sleep provided.