From age five, students are expected to attend a daily event we all know as school. It consists of a seven hour block out of a student’s day to practice educational studies.

If you really think about it, a seven hour block seems like a very long time, if you are not accustomed to your daily schedule. This is why the first day always feels like the longest.

However, we must ask ourselves: Is it the amount of time itself that makes the day feel long, or is it where the block of time is placed in our day?

Have you ever noticed that the day feels longer in the morning than in the afternoon? If your school starts earlier, you most likely feel these effects to be more prominent in your every day schedule.

But why is this? It could have something to do with the fact that you are not fully awake. If you find yourself getting less than adequate sleep, it is much more likely for you to focus on your daily tasks because you are still tried, despite how much you choose to deny it.

You may also find that even if you get a decent amount of sleep, you may feel as if you might fall asleep in class. But if you are getting the required amount of sleep, why do you still feel tired?

It may be because school still starts just too early. If your body wakes up too early, you are likely to feel tired sooner or later in your day. You may be accustomed to your daily schedule, so it may feel like you are not tired, but realistically, your body still begs for rest.

If school started later, there may be a lot of problems solved in the long run. For example, students may not fall asleep in class and they may be more focused. Studies have shown that there are drastic differences in behavior, even when just a few extra minutes of sleep is added.

“If we are expected to wake up earlier, then punishments for falling asleep in class should be more lenient,” Caden Gierer (‘23) said.

Gierer brings up a good point. If students are expected to perform their daily school activities to the best of their ability, then why are students deprived of their sleep because they have to wake up early in the morning for school.

School should start much later because I assume the teachers want to eliminate students falling asleep in class. Even if school would have to dismiss later, it is worth the price to make sure students are performing their best on all of their schoolwork.