Dear Mr. President, 

       What is one thing that all teens need and almost always want more of, Sleep. Teens are not getting enough sleep as it is. With homework, sports, and after school activities, teens are hoping that they get enough sleep for school tomorrow. This is a big problem. Kids shouldn't be worried about getting enough sleep for that important test tomorrow, or enough sleep for their big game after school tomorrow. That's why I feel school needs to start later. By giving teens even just an extra half an hour of sleep in the morning, will overall help their test scores, attendance, a decrease in tardiness, and an overall better attitude towards school. 

       Most teens need upwards of 9 hours of sleep a night. Over 2/3 are getting under 8. This being that a shift in the sleep cycle of teens make it very hard for teens to feel tired before 11pm. Teens are barely getting enough sleep to get through school day. Then after school, most kids go right to a sport or other after school activities. By the times they get back home all they want to do is sleep! I should know because every night I come after sports or after school activities, all I want to do is go to bed. There is one problem though, teens can't get home and go straight to bed, there's homework. I can say from experience that its hard to get back home after sports or after school activities and feel motivated to do homework. There's not enough time to do everything and still get a good night sleep. There is a way to fix this, by giving kids an extra hour of sleep in the morning or even just a half hour would be so helpful to many kids.

Did you know that only 15 percent of schools start at 8:30 or later? The other 85 percent of schools start before 8:30 every morning. With over 40 percent of that starts school at 8:00 or earlier. This means that students have to get up quite early to make it to school on time, and many students ride the bus which means they have to get up at 5 or 6am every morning. Teens brains stay in sleep mode until 8am. That means that teens will not retain as much information early in the morning as they will more towards the afternoon. When teens force their self to wake up in the morning, they are interrupting their sleep cycle. Early school hours can cause, weight gain, eating disorders, depression, substance abuse, and behavior problems. All of this could be easily avoided by having school start later. Test scores would be higher and students would be healthier. I know I would appreciate an extra hour of sleep in the morning.

       I feel that starting schools later would help in many ways. Not only with grades but the overall attitude of students going to school. If Students had extra sleep in them morning they would be ready to go through their day. I know I would be able to go through the day better with extra sleep. This will also give more time to students for their after school activities and homework because they wont have to worry about sleep so much because they know they wont have to get up as early as they used to! So yes, I think starting school later would affect students in a very positive way. 

       Sincerely, 

       Samuel Sarauer

"Restore Safe and Healthy School Hours." Start school later inc,                                                                                        2011, http://www.startschoollater.net/why-change.html.    

Richmond, Emily "Why Schools Should Start Later in the Morning." The Atlantic, August 17                                          2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/08/why-school-should-start-later/401489/

Strauss, Emily "US Doctors Urge Later School Start Times for Teens." The washington Post, August 25                  2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/25/u-s-doctors-                        urge-later-school-start-times-for-teens/