What if school started later? What if you had an extra hour to sleep, or get ready, or watch Netflix, or do whatever you felt like doing? What if you did not have to be at school until, say, 9:00 o’clock in the morning?

Adolescents have a problem- they need more sleep. The average teenager functions best with approximately 9.25 hours of sleep. Between all the classes, homework, sports, extra curricular activities, family, friends and anything else that is a part of a teenager’s life, high school students are not getting an adequate amount of sleep.

When asked if she feels she gets enough sleep, Mattie Crabtree, 10, immediately responded with a “no.”

If classes were to start later in the morning, students would be allotted more time for rest, whether it be sleeping or just preparing themselves for the day.

Science has proven that students perform better with the right amount of sleep; they think quicker, cope with stress better, remember more, are more alert, etc.

Another option is to have classes start at a certain amount of time after the sun rises; start times would be dependent on the season.

According to Express, those who wake up before the sun rises suffer from “social jet lag.” Their body’s melatonin- the sleeping hormone- is suppressed when forced to wake up which could lead to a risk of a stroke.

Therefore, starting classes later in the morning would increase student’s mental and physical health along with improving their education.