By: Ethan Jolly | Photographer/Multimedia
September 10th, 2018
Imagine: it’s a Monday morning, you’re just waking up and getting out of bed, but instead of it being 6:30 in the morning, it’s 7:30. California lawmakers just recently passed a bill on August 31st, which will force all the schools in California to start later than 8:30. The reason? More sleep for students.
It is estimated that adolescents are supposed to get no less than eight hours of sleep every night. However, most students only average around 4-6 hours. A recent study by CNBC found that more sleep will help boost student health as well as graduation rates. This new bill is supposed to help with that and if signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, California schools will have up to three years to comply.
Because of the way our society views extracurricular activities as well as school and work, it is almost impossible for kids to find a break in their schedule to just relax or catch up on sleep. Most kids get home from school, and have two options: take a nap or use that nap time to relax and let the mind wander. By choosing to nap, they make up on sleep missed the night prior.After they spend an hour or two relaxing, most do homework until they go to bed, usually later than they’re supposed to. This law will hopefully give students a little more sleep time.
“I wake up at 5:30 and don’t stop moving til it’s 10:00; it’s hard to keep my eyes open anymore” senior Harrison Mcnee said. “I have track, homework and school but I also want time to do activities I enjoy like surfing.” For most kids, finding time to do all their required activities is a challenge.
“I wake up early, go to school for 7 hours, then I head home to sleep for 2 hours before I wake up and do 4 or so hours of homework.” senor Kyle Stevens said. “I never have any time to do anything that I want to do.”
Kyle is unfortunately not so different from most of the other kids here at San Clemente, with such a hefty homework load and a school that starts relatively early, it would be a great thing if school start times were pushed back to 8:30. To even get a “healthy” sleep, teenagers are supposed to get around eight hours each night. This is seemingly impossible for most, but with a new law in place, the impossible might reach a new reality.
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