Eight of 10 American teens are sleep deprived and struggle to achieve quality sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. We are five of those teens, and we believe early high school start times are part of the problem.
Teenagers are biologically wired to stay up later due to their natural evolution, not because of bad habits. The current working theory is that in ancient communities, teenagers were the protectors at night because they were stronger and faster. Over time, staying awake led to the evolution of teens’ circadian rhythm which designed them to fall asleep later than children and adults.
Yet thousands of years later, society still hasn’t adapted with us, and requires teens to function against their natural clocks. This has damaging effects on us teens, and also society as a whole.
A study of teens in Kentucky showed that after pushing school start times back by one hour, the average crash rate for teen drivers decreased by 16.5%. Meanwhile, teen crash rates for the rest of the state without the delayed start time increased by 7.8% over the same time period. This shows a direct correlation between road safety and school start times. When teens are able to get the proper amount of sleep, the roads become safer for everyone.
Mental health is a top concern for teens like us, considering we are inundated with stress and anxiety. Multiple studies link anxiety and mood disorders to insufficient sleep in teens. By prioritizing sleep, we prioritize students’ well-being and overall mental health.
North Carolina schools and districts state that their mission is to promote learning and academic success, yet this is another area that’s significantly affected by early start times for high schoolers.
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As members of the Myers Park High School Community Problem Solvers, we surveyed teachers at our school in Charlotte. Our data shows clear results: early classes perform worse than later sections of those same classes. In one first-period class, the average grade was seven points lower that the average grades in later sections of the same class at the same level.
Attendance functions similarly, as first-period classes consistently have lower attendance rates. It’s no surprise performance is worse — if you aren’t there, you can’t learn.
The largest barrier to changing start times is often bus schedules and transportation. One of our proposed solutions is to switch the start times of high schools and middle schools. School districts have considered this before and AI tools (like assisted routing) are making logistical challenges like this easier.
Another challenge to starting school later is that after-school activities and practices would also run later. As previously mentioned, teens’ circadian rhythm is designed to go to sleep later, which still allows time for homework, dinner, and bedtime routines. Research shows that even when teens go to sleep later, they get more overall sleep.
A third challenge is that some parents will object to the later times because early ones work better for their schedule. But many parents also object to the current schedule, so just doing what’s right for students should come first.
Students depend on the help of the adults in their lives to support learning, health, and safety. It is the responsibility of the adults to ultimately do what is right for students’ health, and to create environments that help students thrive. If the goal is truly to help every student reach their full potential, it is imperative to recognize the overwhelming research showing that later start times improve academic performance, mental health, and overall well-being.
Doing what is right for students means taking action, and that action starts with changing school start times to better align with the needs and realities of the students North Carolina serves.
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