As many students and concerned parents and teachers concur, it is important to acquire the proper amount of rest to be prepared for the arduous day ahead. But for what reason are teenagers, who need the most sleep, required to get up at an ungodly hour in the morning and go to school? Students across the country, and not just West Milford High School, retire extremely late at night due to rigorous schedules which include sports, excessive homework, and many other factors. Many students’ busy lives force them to remain awake until at least 11:00 pm, and often times later. It is quite common to overhear discussions about pulling all-nighters and large quantities of work.
It is quite unlikely for adolescent students to manage their sleep schedule appropriately when faced with academic and social stresses. According to the National Sleep Foundation, “Teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best. Most teens do not get enough sleep— one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8½ hours on school nights.” (https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep). High schoolers need an extra hour or so of sleep than do elementary school children, which could be potentially vital to having a successful and efficient school day. While first period starts around 7:00 am, adolescents must be awake as early as five in the morning so they can prepare for the day and catch the bus;
during that time, they are not fully energized because their sleep schedules are so irregular. On the other hand, elementary school children are wide awake early in the morning, yet their school day begins considerably later.
Young children have daily scheduled naptimes (and don’t get me started on snack time) to energize for the rest of their
studies, while high…

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