By Albert Wu
Managing Editor of Opinions
We’ve all felt it. That dreadful, groggy feeling you get after your alarm clock wakes you up after minimal hours of sleep. The fact of the matter is Newton South’s start time of 7:40 is too early.
Sleep deprivation, an issue widely complained about and debated over by the South student body, is now under the spotlight of the officials that have the power to make a change. On Jan. 22, Newton Public School officials held a committee forum to discuss this very problem.
As a senior, I can’t express how relieved I am that South’s starting time is finally getting the attention it deserves. Although pleased, I’m still impatient for change because the student body has suffered from insufficient sleep for too long. Sleep is absolutely essential for students to not only succeed, but survive.
According to The Sleep Foundation, teenagers undergo a sleep phase delay that causes later times for both sleeping and waking up. With students waking up at times ranging from 7 a.m. to as early as 5 a.m., the necessary 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep isn’t even close to being achieved. Biologically, teenagers go to bed later, with research showing the typical adolescent natural sleep time to be after 11 p.m. or later.
Our internal clock makes us feel wide awake even if we may actually be really exhausted.
Sleep deprivation takes a huge toll on students, academically, socially, and physically. Stress, irritability, depression, impaired cognitive function, and decision making are just a few of consequences of not getting enough sleep.
The Newton Public Schools committee is finally realizing that sleep deprivation is a huge contributor to why 79 percent of Newton high school students described their lives as “somewhat” or “very” stressful (according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey).
On the other hand, some argue that a later start time disrupts extracurricular activities and sports as they would start later in the day, causing there to be problems with transportation and scheduling. Although this is a valid concern, the positive effects of a later start time overcomes the negative ones.
The fact is schools both across the country and right next to us are seeing the immense impact that simply pushing the starting time of school brings.
According to the New York Times, when officials in Jessamine County, Kentucky, changed their start times from 7:40 a.m. to 8:40 a.m., student attendance and standardized test scores increased dramatically, and teen involvement in car crashes was reduced.
Duxbury High School, a Massachusetts school, also pushed backed their start time, with Natick following suit.
I can say from personal experience that a later start time is essential. I spent my first three years in high school waking up before 7 a.m., and even earlier when I had to take AM Wellness (a workout class that starts an hour before school begins).
This semester, however, I’m fortunate to have A blocks free, which means I get to wake up around 8 a.m. instead. The change has been amazing – I’m consistently getting more sleep. I’m going to bed at the same time as I did before, but now I’m getting the sleep I need, which is helping me become an overall better student — no more early morning headaches, no more dozing off in class, no more fatigue.
Although I’ll be long graduated before a later start time for South is implemented, I still deeply want this change to happen. It’s essential that students get the sleep they not only deserve, but need to function.
I urge fellow students to contact the South Senate, PTSO, and guidance counselors about this issue in the hope that we can bring change together as quickly as possible.
