Start times not ideal for teenage students

I am a senior at Conant High School. I am responding to the Daily Herald editorial, “Collaboration key in school schedule changes.”

The article brings to the attention of the community that the way school schedules are currently set up may not be the most beneficial for the students.

“Research in the 1990s found that later sleep and wake patterns among adolescents are biologically determined; the natural tendency for teenagers is to stay up late at night and wake up later in the morning. This research indicates that school bells that ring as early as 7 a.m. in many parts of the country stand in stark contrast with adolescents’ sleep patterns and needs.”

As a teenage student myself, I can also agree that starting school so early in the morning after staying up so late at night can be very difficult. I believe that it would be in the school districts’ best interest to flip-flop the start times of high school and elementary school.

Younger children wake earlier than teenagers and therefore would be ready to begin the school day. With this change, all students would be happier and more awake at the beginning of the school day.

Leanne Frawley

Roselle