Now more than ever, the mental health of students at school is a concern for health and school officials. Mental health is partly in jeopardy due to a lack of sleep. To combat this, many schools have been adopting later schedules.

At Central High School, the students have different ideas of the optimal start time for school. The 7:15am to 2:15pm schedule is the perfect time for some people, late enough to get some sleep but also early enough to not take up the whole day. Mason Timmons said, “I think the current schedule is fine, it doesn’t need to be changed.”

Other students are of the opinion that school starts too early and needs to be pushed back. James Hurt said, “We have to get up way too early. School should start at, like, 8:39.” This idea was also reciprocated by Chayse Foote. “I just think it starts too early, if it started at least two hours later then it would be much better.”

A later schedule is supported by our current understanding of human minds, it is something that health officials have been vying for.

It is recommended for teens to get around 10 hours of sleep, with some even voting for an upwards of 12. Sleep provides many important benefits and it’s important students get the sleep they need.

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