As a high school student, one of the hardest challenges is the ability to get a good night’s sleep. Between school, jobs, extracurricular activities and personal lives, it is almost impossible for a student to wake up for school fully rested and ready to learn. In recent years, there has been heavy consideration regarding the switching of elementary and high school starting times, and if it is beneficial for both parties. Switching high school and elementary school times would allow for an increase in available time for high school students, helping to reduce stress and increase general health.
Montgomery County has implemented new strategies in hopes of increasing health, wellness and general happiness for both students and staff. Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School began what they call “advisory,” Albert Einstein has “Titan Time,” and Richard Montgomery has “Rocket Refresh.” These periods are used to catch up on work and meet with teachers to relieve any school-related stress. Despite efforts such as these, the issue regarding student exhaustion has yet to be addressed.
A recent article from the CDC makes comments on the growing rate of mental health issues among high school students. More than 1 in 3 high school students have experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019, and there was a 40% increase in mental health issues since 2009. In 2019, approximately 1 in 6 youth reported making a suicide plan, a 44% increase since 2009, showing how student mental health is progressively declining and early school starting times do not help alleviate the problem.
According to Harvard University, mental illness and lack of sleep are closely connected to one another. The article states that chronic sleep problems affect 50% to 80% of patients in a typical psychiatric practice, compared with 10% to 18% of adults in the general U.S. population. The article also states that a lack of sleep is particularly common in patients with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
In MCPS, elementary schools begin at 9:00 am and end at 3:25 pm, while high schools begin at 7:45 am and end at 2:30 pm. Though both groups remain in school for 6 hours and 45 minutes each day, The Sleep Lady states that younger children are more likely to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier in comparison to young adults and teens. High school students’ work does not end with school as they are tasked with several hours of homework, sports, jobs and more, resulting in them not getting to bed until around 11 or later each night. The late bedtime mixed with the early wake-up time has led to a huge decrease in high school students’ sleep, and a huge increase in mental health issues and stress.
Despite the multiple benefits to switching school times, there are also some negative effects. Elementary schoolers are still considered too young to watch themselves or stay home alone, making it difficult for parents who work full time jobs to find placement and day-time care for them. Bus routes would also be forced to change, and the adjustment could be difficult for some individuals.
Switching elementary schools and high school times would allow younger children more routine, and high school students more time to do school work, along with other extracurricular activities. Since elementary schoolers naturally wake up and go to bed early, the change would be slight, and possibly beneficial for their young minds.
Article by Madeline Leff of Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School
Photo courtesy of Unsplash