It’s 6AM. Last night you got to bed at midnight after a full day of school, afternoon activities and more homework than you can bear. You just want to go back to sleep. But, because Liberty starts at the crack of dawn, it’s simply not possible.

Here at Liberty, there is talk about changing the start times for finals in order to let students sleep in and be rested for their tests the next day. Principal Josh Almy explained that it was a topic of great interest among students and although this discussion has not touched on the idea of changing the whole schedule around, it is at least a start.

Other school districts have discussed that later start times, which allow for more sleep, would help students retain information better and improve their ability to learn. Plus, recent studies have shown that test scores and success in the classroom are greatly increased when students have had time to comprehend what they learned and had time to rest.

Staying up late doing homework and then waking up before the sun rises also adversely impacts student health.

The National Sleep Foundation found that students experience changes in their sleep patterns when they become teenagers, allowing them to function better when going to bed late and then sleeping in the next day. It is common for teenagers to not be able to fall asleep before 11PM every night.

In addition, teenagers are supposed to get more than nine hours of sleep a night in order to function properly the next day.

Based on this research, it makes more sense to start school later, to follow the natural sleep cycle of all high school students. Currently, many students consider themselves lucky to get more than six hours of sleep.

Starting school early prevents students from getting enough sleep and performing their best during the day.

The National Sleep Foundation also argues that sleep deprivation is one of the leading causes of car crashes, causing over 100,000 crashes every year. Starting the school day later would allow students to be more awake while driving to school.

At this point, our school day begins in the middle of rush hour, but if we started school later, students wouldn’t have to drive with so many other cars on the road and without a solid night of sleep. Transitioning to later start times would increase safety for student drivers.

Many people argue that later start times would push everything else back later into the night, giving students less time after those activities, but it doesn’t matter what time the activity ends at night; it is more important to be well rested. Plus, after school activities are a choice, not a requirement.

So next time you find yourself waking up tired and just wishing for a day off, know that you are not alone. Science is on your side.

Issaquah School District should be implementing later start times because sleep is an important part of a student’s success and health. It just makes sense.