The CDC states that “a healthy teenager between the ages of 13-18 gets 8-10 hours of sleep”. However, most teenagers don’t get anywhere near that. While work, sports, extracurriculars, and school work can all be seen as reasons, one thing that has come of that is that many believe the school schedule should start later for kids to get more time to sleep.

On Thursday, October 13th, Wake County Public School System sent an email out to all teachers and parents with a survey attached asking if a 9:15-4:15 bell schedule for high school students and a 7:30-2:30 schedule change. WCPSS in the past has had some interest in changing the schedule but never did anything about it. But this email gave signs that it  was considering changing the schedule of high schoolers, and opinions on this were very heated. 

In an interview with Sophomore Derek Johns, when asked about the possible schedule change, he said, “I’d like more sleep but how would the schedule work with sports?”  That was also the question that many others had. Right now practices start fifteen to thirty minutes after school and are one-two  hours long. If this stuck with the new schedule, that would mean practices wouldn’t start till 4:30-4:45 and not end until almost 7:00. 

In an interview with Junior Gibson Hagman, he thought it was not a smart choice because “the parents would be waking up at the same time they do now to take their elementary school kids to school in the dark.” This was also a major question; it’s already eerie enough for high schoolers to go to the bus stop in pitch black. What about elementary schoolers whose parents are required to be at the bus stop when kids get on and off the bus? This would be a major issue for kids whose parents don’t work from home.

I also interviewed English II teacher, Mrs Murphy, about it, and she said, “My schedule is pretty fluid because I’m a DINK: Dual Income No Kids. I don’t really have a strong opinion about the change; it doesn’t affect my family that much. However, I do worry about elementary students standing at the bus stop at 5 A.M. in the dark.” Mrs Murphy makes two good points; many teachers in elementary schools and high schools have kids in the school system.  The new change would massively disrupt their schedules at home, and that the environment change for the kids would be unsettling and massive for them.

In my opinion high school should start later, but it shouldn’t take the elementary schoolers spot; high school and middle school should switch start and end times, but they probably never will due to multiple factors.