Senior student signature series

Thomas Kraemer next author in 2016-2017 MLHS senior student editorial series

* The 2016-2017 senior student signature series features area senior class students – and their own “signature” outlooks on a topic of their choice. A new outlook will be posted on Cross-Counties Connect each Friday. The series opens with point of view comments by seniors from Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS). The opinions can be found by clicking on the Family & Faith link on the website’s header, and scrolling down to, and clicking on, Outlook.  Their teachers are Brenda Feil, Kim Syverson and Debby Jass.
THOMAS KRAEMER
THOMAS KRAEMER
 

One More Hour

A staggering 85% of students do not get the amount of sleep they need to function every day. The National Sleep Foundation claims a teenager is supposed to get eight to ten hours of sleep, but on average a teenager gets only seven hours of sleep. Since sleep is food for the brain, a lack of sleep leaves the brain hungry. Schools could help solve this problem by starting at a later time, which has led to improved grades and test scores, as well as more pleasant student behavior.

Due to the high demands on students, they often do not get enough sleep, which negatively affects their emotional health. Sleep deprivation impedes student’s ability to listen, learn, concentrate, and remember crucial information. Lack of sleep also leads to students being more aggressive, unreasonable, and irritated. In addition, anxiety is also a symptom of sleep deprivation and can leave a student mentally exhausted and overwhelmed. The National Sleep Foundation found that 73% of kids who disclose they are depressed also communicate that they do not get enough sleep. As well as the mental and emotional effects, lack of sleep can leave a body much more vulnerable to illness because a weakened immune system has a lot more trouble fighting off diseases.

With that in mind, schools have the unique opportunity to help students get the sleep they need by starting one hour later. Getting that extra hour of sleep would help students perform at a higher level, as well as work at a more efficient rate. The National Sleep Foundation supported this data through an experiment of giving students different sleep times. Staying up an hour later than usual for a week, the students showed a decrease in academic performance, according to the teachers, who were not informed of the different sleep time. Finally, a study from the Institute for the Study of Labor found that test scores for both class tests and national tests did improve because when humans sleep the brain works to cement and develop our memories.

If we as a school did decide to give our students an extra hour, we would not be the first; many schools have done this and have reported positive results, according to Start School Later Inc. In Edina parents were very skeptical of the later start times at first, but after a year over 90% of them reported that the later start times were beneficial. Public schools in Minneapolis have communicated that more students are staying in the same school, and they have had fewer reports of depression. South Washington found that the grade average increased, problems such as absenteeism and tardiness decreased, and scores on a math achievement test improved. Santa Rosa County, a school in Florida, found that graduation rates went up, delinquency decreased, and bus costs went down as well.

To conclude, a later start time has really helped students improve emotionally and academically. Sleep deprivation is harmful in all points of life, and 85% of students do not get enough sleep, but schools can make sure they have a greater chance of this by choosing a later start time. Starting class one hour later could make all the difference.

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