Sleep Deprivation In Middle School

One of the biggest problems we have here at Wilson is how early we have to come to school. Most students wake up around 6 a.m to come to school on time, and we leave at 3:20. Getting up so early makes it hard on the students, and it causes many issues that can be fixed if we just change the times school starts and ends. Sleep deprivation in school age children has many negative side effects, which include being over emotional or cranky, having difficulty focusing, and becoming more injury prone. Roughly 25 to 30 percent of children in the middle school ages aren’t getting enough sleep because of the early time school starts. Sleep deprivation can also have very long term effects on the very impressionable minds and bodies of children. For middle school students, sleep is very important for their bodies. Shorter sleep durations can result in hormonal changes resulting in obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. It also helps the development of memory problems and depression in students.
It causes many problems that the kids, and these can sometimes even affect the student's performance at school. it causes the student to not be in a good mood, and not have the will to learn. Studies show that children who get the 9 hours of sleep that are recommended, are in a much better mood and have much better grades than their peers who do not get enough sleep. So why should we continue to be sleep deprived and tired when there is a better option? Last year when we were at the elementary schools, our school day started at nine thirty a.m, and got out at four o five, that gave us six hours and thirty five minutes to be in school. The shortest time school can be is five hours, and with the other option we would get an hour and thirty five minutes more then that, and have a better school day experience without being