When you are in your teenage years, your body is undergoing an important developmental phase. Sleep is critical during this period as it aids in the development process. Sleep also has many other important properties such as helping the consolidation of memories, which is a core part of learning. It also physically restores the body. Being continually deprived of sleep lowers your immune system's capabilities, as well as causing the degradation of moods, which in turn affects behaviour and ultimately relationships.
The problem here is that melatonin, the chemical released by your body which induces sleep, is released in teenagers at a later time of the day (later at night than adults). And because of the developmental phase they are going through, teenagers need 9-10 hours of sleep to be at their best. However, daily life is scheduled around adults, who need 7-8 hours of sleep to be at their best. Now since adult bodies release melatonin earlier, it is much easier for them to get the required amount of sleep than it is for teenagers, and this difference is where the main cause of sleep deprivation in teenagers lies. As a result, teenagers are sleeping less and are not getting the most out of school, whilst simultaneously damaging their bodies.
Therefore high schools should start later in order for students to get the most out of their education, whilst also allowing for as much physical growth to occur during this phase as is possible. Students will get more out of education with later start times as well as benefits to their health both mental and physical.
We, the undersigned, call on the Ontario Ministry of Education to change school start times to 9:00 am for the sake of the students' mental and physical health and to improve their education experience.
It is biologically proven that teenagers need 9-10 hours of sleep to be able to function at their best. Sleep is critical, and without it there is no point in attending classes one will simply be falling asleep in due to lack of rest. With school start times of 8:10 am and buses that arrive between 7:00 and 8:00, students must wake up at extremely early times and attend school not at their best.
Therefore cutting their potential to learn in half. This greatly affects education's impact on students and makes learning far more difficult, especially when students are falling asleep in their classes.
Therefore we ask you to change this, and make education better and more beneficial to students.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Later High School Start Times petition to Ontario Ministry of Education was written by Olivia Clarke and is in the category Students' Rights at GoPetition.