George Foreman once said, “I think sleeping was my problem in school. If school had started at four in the afternoon, I’d be a college graduate today.” This is a similar problem for thousands of students across the country. For most students, the early start time affects the amount of work students can accomplish, which stunts their learning ability. In the last couple of years, studies have shown that grades in teenagers have been dropping. The average amount of sleep a teenager gets daily has plummeted to a sad, 7 and a half hours. Therefore, school School start times should start later due to teenage students' poor academic performance and low attention span.

While walking around the halls of Brooklawn Middle School on December 6th, the goal was to determine the number of students with their heads down on their desks, indicating the student was sleeping or did not get enough sleep. The method used was to visit each classroom and count the number of students exhibiting this behavior. The hypothesis was that 8th graders would likely have their heads down more frequently, considering their older age and potentially increased homework amount. However, this hypothesis was proven wrong from observations. Surprisingly, in the seventh grade there were 13 students with their heads down (1 student per class), whereas in the 8th grade, only 9 displayed this behavior. In addition, more students displayed inattentive behavior in English and Social Studies than in Math and Science. This suggests that students enjoy interactive learning better than regular teaching because Math and Science are more interactive. Lastly, some classrooms had the lights off in the room, increasing the chance of students getting distracted and tired. 

But who is to blame for the tired students in class? Is the school system to blame or teenagers' inability to get the right sleep? First, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “...about 6/10 students do not get enough sleep on school nights due to early start times” (Wheaton). This evidence demonstrates that students struggle to get the amount of sleep scholars need due to the early start times for most schools. If the start times were pushed back later in the day, students would get the sleep needed and possibly do better in school. The appropriate time to start school would be 8:30 A.M or later.  Also, the Start School Early Program states that “...they are seeing large and small benefits to physical and mental health, learning, attendance, graduation rates, car crashes, and overall student well-being” (Snider). This quote highlights the many benefits of changing the start times because itthis is not unknown that teenagers are grumpy and tired in the morning. To add on, by By enhancing student well-being through adjusted start times, the likelihood of fatigue and sleepiness is reduced, allowing a more conducive learning environment. One of the most significant pieces of evidence that supports later start times is when Seattle Public Schools (washington.edu) made their start times later and grades increased by “almost 5 percent” (Urton). This proves that later start times have major benefits such as an increase in students' grades. Consequently, this suggests that students would be more passionate about learning and would not wouldn’t be distracted during the school day. The rise in grades also favors an improved learning environment for all students. 

In conclusion, advocating this is crucial to address teenagers' low attention span and poor academic performance.  Furthermore, having just the right time for school to start is crucial for the teenager's academic future and social health.Therefore, district supervisors should collaborate to make the academic performance of teenagers a fun and great experience or else intelligence may become less valuable. In delving into this topic, the purpose is to emphasize the need for reevaluating school start times, urging people in power to recognize the significance and actively work for implementation.