![Sophomore Mason Lee encompasses the persona of his character, Enjolras, during a rehearsal of Act One. I think [rehearsals are] going well and were very on track [with the squedule]... which is good, Student Assistant Director senior Neena Tavik, who is also playing Eponine, said. (Courtesy Sasha Rotton)](https://www.wjpitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/24466917-801C-45FE-A882-D818DABBDCB8-600x451.jpg)
![Since the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge in late March, federal law enforcement has began investigating what preceded the event. In a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson for the FBI said, [The] FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity. There is no other public information available and we will have no further comment. (Courtesy Isaac Smay via Flickr)](https://www.wjpitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/53619368036_399400003a_b-600x400.jpg)
With finals lurking around the corners for underclassmen, no one should be surprised to find empty coffee cups and Red Bull cans in the garbage cans. Some people will argue that it’s all the teens’ fault: they should have gotten more sleep, they should have been studying all semester long, and they’re just overreacting.
The thing is, students probably would have studied and captured the material faster the first time- if they weren’t sleep-deprived. Many people call it the “snowball effect.” It starts at the beginning of the school year. School has just started, summertime laziness is still lingering, and nobody wants to do schoolwork. The students only do a little work during the school year, so as the year passes, they have more and more trouble keeping up with the class.
Waking up at 6 a.m. every day and then coming home to what often feels like the same amount of work you just did in school isn’t a feeling that many students enjoy. This is especially true for students who have sports practice or clubs meetings after school and don’t get home until late in the afternoon. According to the National Sleep Foundation, teens require eight to 10 hours of sleep each night. The same organization also reported that a study has shown that only 15 percent of adolescents get eight and a half hours of sleep on a school night. Sleep deprivation can lead to unrequited weight gain, aggressive behavior, trouble learning new material, and in some cases, teenage depression.
Some people argue that the only way to solve this dilemma is to pass a law that would make it illegal to open schools any earlier than 8:30 a.m. In 2014, legislation was presented before the U.S. House of Representatives in hopes of delaying school start times across the country. The bill is currently being studied by the U.S. Secretary of Education. If the bill passes, teenagers could not only perform better in school and on tests, but it would also help them get accepted into college and benefit them once they join the workforce.
Earlier this year, MCPS passed a new rule that will delay school start times next year by 15 minutes. Yet though many students are happy to get more sleep in the morning, many are arguing that 15 minutes is not enough- especially if their bedtimes are pushed back as well since they’ll be coming home later, and their homework schedule will also be pushed back. This change in schedule won’t immediately affect students, aside from seeing a bit more sunshine in the morning before they go to school. The reality is that students won’t feel the change because it’s not that major.
Maybe the only solution to this problem is to push school start times even farther back; that way students will have the energy to do their homework after a long day of school and still succeed- both in the present and in the future.
