Hey teenagers! Are you an early bird or a night owl? The body clock changes for teenagers; they want to stay up late and sleep late.

Sleep also impacts your physical health. Medical professionals say that teenagers fail to sleep for a minimum of 8 hours. Sleep deprivation can lead to mood and emotional problems.  

Not enough sleep can cause a  risk of emotional and mental illness, have an impact on obesity, and increase the chance of getting cancer.

The real problem is the cell phones; they will keep you awake and tell your body that it is daytime when it is night time. Parents should limit screen time because their children  are spending an average of 6 hours screen time daily.

When you play on smartphones at night, they impact your sleep and will keep you awake. Then when you are at school at  7:30 am, you don’t focus in class. That will lead to you failing that class.

When you are a teenager, and you are driving to school at 7:30 a.m. you are more likely to fall asleep at the wheel. This is a high risk factor for a car accident.

Here at Rhinebeck High School, students gained an extra half hour a couple three years ago. Dr. Davenport said, “There was more research that teenagers need more sleep, so the Board of Education did their own research into start time.”

Dr. Davenport described the process involved in changing the start time: “The BOE surveyed and talked to parents, students, and faculty. They considered bus routes, after school activities, CTI students, athletes, as well as CLS.”

According to Mrs. Shellhammer, an administrative assistant to Dr. Davenport, “Middle school tardiness improved slightly. It’s better, but the high school tardiness remained similar.”

Mrs. Shellhammer used to be Attendance Clerk for RHS and BMS.  

Personally, I like the later start time. I go to bed around 8:00 or 8:30 every night, and I get up by 6:30 every morning to go to school.

I think we should get in extra sleep in the mornings. It gives us extra time to get ready without being rushed out of the door every day.