A typical day at Monroe-Woodbury High School starts at 7:08 a.m. when the first bell rings. However, this start time has been a subject of discussion for many years. Both lack of sleep and too early start times are common complaints from students not just in Monroe-Woodbury, but from students across the United States.
A poll recently distributed to students of all grade levels at Monroe-Woodbury High School received 139 responses. Out of these 139 students polled, only five students (3.6 percent) claim they regularly get eight or more hours of sleep. Both the National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommend 8 to 10 hours of sleep for ages 13 to 18 a night. Clearly, Monroe-Woodbury High Schools students aren’t getting enough sleep.
But Monroe-Woodbury students are not alone; this is a nationwide trend: More than two-thirds of U.S. high school students don’t get an adequate amount of sleep, according to a 2016 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Why are students unable to get a good night’s rest? It could be due to the early opening hours of the high school, as many students propose. First period classes begin promptly at 7:08 a.m., but for students who take the bus to school, they often need to be fully dressed and at the bus stop anywhere from 6:10 a.m. to 6:35 a.m, depending on the arrival time of their bus.
“It’s just way too early,” said Kenzie Moya, a junior, “my bus arrives at 6:30 a.m. and I wake up at 5:30 a.m. so I can get ready for school. It feels almost impossible to get more than seven hours of sleep.”
Some students, however, believe that a later start time would either shorten after-school activities or cause them to run later into the day.
“While I don’t like waking up early,” said Hannah Vogel, another one of the students who participated in the poll, “I am an athlete and I often get home at times as late as 9 or 10 p.m., having school start later would mean that I get home even later than that.”
While the district’s early start time plays a role in students’ lack of sleep, students also cite other factors. Nearly half of the polled students (63 out of 139, 47.5 percent) cited stress as the main reason they were having trouble sleeping.
Behind stress, the leading cause of lack of sleep for students is homework. These students believe they simply have too much to do, without enough time to do it.
Those who work or participate in sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities can especially struggle.
Poor sleep is associated with more fatigue, worse academic performance, increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, and even symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation, according to the AASM. A second poll of a smaller group of Monroe-Woodbury High School students found that 10 out of the 30 students questioned preferred a start time of 9 a.m. to the current 7:08 a.m. start time.
So, how can this issue be solved? The AASM recommends that schools start at 8:30 a.m. Many students agree that school start times should be pushed later; however, a later start time raises concerns with the current busing system and after-school programs.
It’s evident there’s a growing teen sleep problem in Monroe-Woodbury and across the United States, and students have been feeling these effects in full swing.
