Dear Future President,

The school start time has been an ongoing controversy for many years. Every student at some point during the school year complains about having to get up so early. People will say “Just don’t get up so early” but what people don’t understand is that some kids ride a bus that comes to their house at six o'clock in the morning, they don’t have the option to sleep in. Judith Owens did a study on students and their sleeping habits, saying it was an easy fix. Saying students could easily just change their sleep schedule, going to bed earlier than normal. She must not have realized that some students are given so much homework that they give up on doing it because of the late hour of the night.

Studies show that every child in the world does not have full brain function without at least seven to eight hours of sleep. Most children in middle school or elementary school have a bedtime set by their parents so their sleep schedule doesn’t have as many bumps in the road like high school students do. Most high school students realize they have to begin their futures soon and they stay up night after night to study so their high school grades don’t affect their future plans. I, as a student, know that your high school GPA and grades affect everything you try to do in your future. I personally have stayed up some nights studying for a small high school exam that determines if you pass a class. High school means so much more than what some people ever realize.

Granted, some parents of students do not have the flexible schedule in the morning to have their children start at school earlier. Some parents either leave at the same time that their child gets on their bus or some even leave before their kids have to get on the bus. Some elementary kids have to wake up extra early to go to a daycare or some type of child care to aboard a bus their to school because their parent has to get to work. Children also have after school sports and some parents cannot pick them up after practice because of their work schedule.

Despite the obstacles that parents may face for their children to start earlier, it will benefit all the kids in the long run. Having an extra hour or so in the morning gives every student the time their body needs to recuperate. A sleep schedule in no way is an easy fix but with time sleep schedules can become normal again. With the help of parents and teachers students can be given the amount of sleep their bodies need.

Sincerely,

Emilee