The American Academy of Pediatrics announced last year that middle and high schools should start at 8:30 a.m. or later, allowing teens some much-needed extra sleep. According to their research, lack of sleep during adolescence is linked to bad grades, more car accidents, depression and even obesity.

We all know that groggy feeling that comes with waking up to our alarm after a late night doing homework. It’s hard enough to get out of bed after a bad night’s sleep and even harder to make it through a busy day filled with classes, extra-curricular activities, tests, afterschool sports and homework. And when the drowsy days add up, sleep deprivation starts to have a major effect.

The AAP found that tired teenagers are more likely to eat carbs and fatty foods and that they are much more likely to develop obesity with every hour of sleep lost. They also saw that teens who regularly go to sleep after midnight have higher chances of experiencing depression.

After finding the many negative effects of lack of sleep for teenagers, the AAP decided that starting school no earlier than 8:30 in the morning was the only way to allow teens to get the 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep they need to take on the day.

Though some critics don’t think teens should set their alarms back, studies of different school districts with later start times have found that students are more awake, more often on-time and more attentive—plus they do better in their classes overall.

According to the CDC and the U.S. Department of Education’s new study of the 2011-2012 school year, only 17.7% of the 40,000 public schools surveyed start at 8:30 a.m or after. Hopefully this data will inspire schools across the country take the AAP’s advice and start school later. They would certainly make a lot of tired teenagers pretty happy.

What time does your school start? Do you think you'd feel better (and do better in school) with a later start time? Weigh in below in the comments.

by Samantha Max | 2/1/2016