As the school year winds down, summer is closely approaching. Although summer is coming quickly, so is the upcoming 2018-2019 school year. Recently, there have been talks in senior government classes about how school should start an hour later. Seniors in Mr. Bonners class made PowerPoints and videos discussing the pros and cons of having school start at a later time.

Senior McKenna Murphy was one of the people who made a project on school starting at a later time. “I know that it seems like something that could never happen, but my group and I definitely weighed out the pros and cons of having school start an hour later. Most people only get four or five hours of sleep, and by having school start later, students could drastically improve their health,” she said.

According to the National Sleep Foundation,  87 percent of high schoolers are getting less than the recommended 8 1/2 to 9 1/2 hours of sleep a night. Studies have found that lack of sleep in teenagers increases the risk of traffic accidents, and makes them more vulnerable to depression and obesity. Teens who get more sleep do better academically, with better standardized test scores and better quality of life.

“I usually get four hours a sleep every night,” sophomore Braden Cook said, “if I had just one more hour to sleep in the morning, I would probably be a lot healthier. I get good grades in school even though I don’t get a lot of sleep, but it would be helpful to be able to get even more sleep, to make me healthier,” he said.

Students from the senior government class plan to talk to the Snohomish School District Board about if it is possible for school to start an hour later.