Teens who don’t get enough sleep regularly have a greater risk of developing health issues. These may be obesity , diabetes, poor mental health and problems with attention. Getting enough rest at night will improve brain function, which is key for students. Stillwater area high school has thought of moving back the start time, but has yet to follow through.

Junior Mira Torzewski explained she was open to the school moving back the start time to later in the day.

The most serious potential problems you could get by having sleep deprivation are heart failure, dangerously high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, and also stroke. Other potential problems will include depression,obesity and lower sex drive. Also sleep deprivation can affect your appearance.

“I know this negatives of not getting enough sleep and that is why I stay consistent in my sleep schedule,” Torzewski said.

The positives of getting enough sleep are maintaining a healthy weight, reducing the risk of having a serious health problem, for example diabetes and heart disease, getting sick significantly less often, improves your mood and reduces stress, thinking more clearly and doing better in work and at school, getting along better with people and making better decisions and avoiding injuries. For example, sleep deprived drivers are the cause of thousands of car accidents every year. According to sleep education.

Senior Quinn Kelley explained he drinks coffee every morning before school to wake himself up so he isn’t sleepy while driving.

Students know the risks of not getting enough sleep and they also know the positives, but students still do not get enough sleep every night. They even say sleep has a heavy impact on how good or bad their day is. The national average amount of sleep that teenagers get is between seven and seven and a half hours. However, doctors and scientists say they need between nine and nine and a half hours. According to nationwide children.

“Students stay up late because it’s technology or sometimes it’s just homework, it just depends. For me it’s technology,” Kelley said.

When teens do not get enough sleep, the next day can be sometimes a miserable one. Although teens should be getting nine hours of sleep a night, they tend to get distracted and stay up late and only end up getting around seven hours of sleep.

Overall for optimal health, teens should be upwards of eight hours of sleep per night.