It’s the 21st century. Why are we still waking up at six on weekdays? If anything, it’s counterproductive to our learning. Our brains aren’t even at twenty percent within the first two hours of waking up. That, combined with the fact that we can’t retain information as easily when we’re tired (it’s a fact, trust me), makes it kind of ridiculous to start school so early.

 

“Well, why don’t you just sleep early?” says everyone who was born before 1980. It’s not that simple. Living in a technologically advanced time such as this one makes it almost impossible to turn our computers off at night, or put our phones down before bed. Even more so with the nonstop barrage of addicting apps that seem to sprout like weeds every other hour. And the worst part is that when one dies, three more take its place. Technology is the hydra of the 21st century and it’s winning its war against sleep.

 

It doesn’t help that the bright screens of our mobilized computers affect our internal clock, acting as an artificial sun that tells our brain to wake up when it’s actually just passed midnight. We can’t ignore these beautiful things, either. It’s human nature to be attracted to shiny things. Cavemen did it with fire and it led to their survival. Unless they tried to eat it. But natural selection filtered them out.

 

At the end of the day, there’s no use trying to change teenage habits. The best you can do is to try and cater to them and work around it. If students aren’t getting enough sleep, start school a little later, even if it’s just by an hour.

 

More and more students are now learning to drive, so it would only make sense to give us the necessary eight hours of rest to operate our vehicles appropriately. Without it, some students could lose a lot of mental focus while on the road, or even worse, get in a cursing match with other cranky drivers. 

 

If the school board doesn’t want students walking home in the dark, that’s understandable. Starting school later would also mean ending school later, and in the colder seasons, the sun goes down relatively quickly. But give students the option to opt for an open period in the morning.

 

As it stands right now, students can only get an open period in the morning if they have a job that requires them to be free during that time, and even then, you have to give a pretty convincing speech. There’s no good reason for keeping students who have accumulated most of their credits in classes like music appreciation. Give them the free period, rather than dumping them in a class that’s already overfilled as it is.

 

The early bird does indeed get the worm, but what’s the point if it’s too exhausted to eat it?