Young people need more peace. The high school start times reflect this.

The high school was a long time ago for most of us. Between classes, studies, finals, extracurricular, post -school jobs and socialization, teenagers bring a lot into one day. Remember?

An invoice on the table in Springfield raises an important question: When should this day begin?

The measure sponsored by state MP Laura Faver Dias, D-Grayslake, would ban public high school from the start before 8:45 a.m.

Most public high schools begin schooling between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., also the discharge into the rejection, but most schools wrap the day between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. when out of extra school games start, and between activities such as sports practices and homework, some children only make up the light late in the evening.

That doesn't just let them make it into grums in the morning; Inadequate sleep can have negative cognitive and physical effects on young people and affect their ability to concentrate and learn and, in the worst case, possibly trigger chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and poor mental health.

According to a nationwide survey by the centers for the control and prevention of diseases, around 80% of the Illinois High School students do not have enough sleep. The start times of the early school are not the only reason for this. During the teenage years, a biological change in our circadian rhythm means that young people are difficult to fall asleep before 11 p.m. The technology tightens the problem, and many teenagers who scroll without thoughts on their smartphones before they hit. Add heavy homework and study charges as well as obligations for theater, basketball or choir, and you have a lot to do and little time to do it after school.

Conclusion: Our modern culture expects children.

Fortunately, at the state level, a lot of productive discussions about the topic of improving the well -being of young people in Illinois, including the support of governor JB Pritzker, has to ban cell phones from the classroom. The start times are another important part of this conversation.

Some districts have proactively deal with the well -being of the students. In Barrington, the local school district withdrew the high school start time to 8:30 a.m. after taking research into sleep and teenage development. As in other districts, Barrington has a graded bus system that is able to meet the bus requirements at the elementary, middle and high schools. So far, the district seems to be withdrawing the change. Officials have also announced to plan extracurricular activities before the school began.

The logistics to change the beginning of the high school day is not easy. You can affect everything, from sports practices to childcare needs to bus timetables. Because of these subtleties, we do not believe that a flat -rate state law is the solution. The start times should be left to the local school districts.

But we believe that Faver slides have an important topic and makes good points for the sleeping habits of young people and how over -planned days and early start times hinder their growth and development. All high school districts with early start times should at least be considered to change.

Some critics have pushed back and pointed out that later start times did not meet the work plans of the parents. But then we would say no collection from 2:30 p.m. And for everyone who has tried to tell us that these Whippersnappers have to do the task, we would say that research does not support their position. We also ask you to think about how sleep – or a lack of it – influences it. If you don't get enough peace, you don't work properly, and that applies to a teenager as well as to a toddler or a 60-year-old. If we as a company have committed high -quality education for all children, we must be supported equally that these children are well rested enough to use academic lessons.

The concern for sleep and starting school may seem trivial for everyone who is not a parent, but we believe that better -oriented teenagers lead to a happier, healthier and more successful cohort of young people who are rising through our school system and hopefully stay here to continue their studies. Let the children sleep.

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