The Jungle Editorial No. 2

Waking Up is Hard to Do
by Angela Castillo



Susie comes home from her softball game at 6: p.m. on a Thursday. Tomorrow she has an exam in her US History class. She has finished all her homework and goes to sleep around 3:30 a.m. The next morning, Susie needs to wake up at 6:00 a.m., so she has enough time to get ready and drive to school. Susie finally wakes up, but this is very hard for her since she has only had three and a half hours of sleep! So, during second block, Susie's teacher passes out the history exam. While thinking of the answer to question number two, Susie can barely keep her eyes open, and she falls asleep. Susie ends up failing the exam because she slept through it! When she finds out her grade, she yells aloud, "I wish school started later so I wouldn't be so tired!"

One reason for school starting later is that most teenagers sleep in on weekends so they tell their bodies that is their schedule. Then they have headaches because, during the week, they grow tired from early morning classes and cannot concentrate. According to sleep experts, teenagers keep busy schedules. Not only that, but biological changes in their bodies mean they need more sleep now, during their teen years, than at any other time in their lives. So why are they being deprived of sleep at the time that they need it the most?

Another reason why school should start later is because some students live far away and must wake up as early as 4:00 a.m. to get to their first class on time. A friend lives all the way in Morgan Hill, and she says, "It's really not easy getting home later from my after school job, going to bed at a late hour due to homework and then waking up at 4 a.m. just to go to school on time."

Another problem is late buses. "Yesterday I took the bus at 6:45 a.m. and I waited for 20 minutes for it. This always happens. Now I have to wake up 30 minutes earlier when I need to take the bus," said one junior. When asked what she thought about school starting later, she said it would be so much easier for her schedule.

Teens need a lot of sleep to deal with their busy schedules. If school started later, some students' grades would improve. Especially those students with after school jobs and sports. Presenting this to the Steers (teacher re-design committee) is what we should do. Many school have made this change, including Century High School in Lacey, WA. Their school runs from 2:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. While this is a lot later than Fremont's schedule, I think we should start school an hour later to benefit Fremont's students.