The string of fog delays that occurred the first week of Nov. left Bears to feel both refreshed and rejuvenated. It leaves some to wonder, why aren’t our school days shorter? 

   It’s natural for teens to want to get more sleep at this stage of life and it’s healthier for them too. When teens awaken before the sun comes up, it affects their entire day in a negative light. It’s unnecessary to force teens to wake up at 6:30 in the morning when they can be just as productive with two more hours of sleep.

   According to Los Angeles Times, it’s recommended that school starts at 8:30 a.m. or later, but this is often ignored in the public school system. Lisa Lewis, who’s currently a contributor to multiple large publications, which includes the Los Angeles Times, shared that while a later start time would positively affect student performance, not many schools care enough to move their start time back.

   “That’s why both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control recommend shifting middle- and high-school start times to 8:30 a.m. or later. Yet during the 2011-12 school year — the most recent statistics available — only 17.7 % of the nation’s public middle, high and combined schools met the 8:30 a.m. guideline, and nearly 40% started before 8 a.m.,” Lewis said. 

   According to Alexa Mikhail, a contributor for Fortune Well Magazine, Lewis’s article caused a new bill to be introduced in California. This bill pushed all public high school start times back to 8:30 a.m. A change like this in Ohio would positively affect many students. 

   The CDC insists that a lack of sleep can contribute to many factors, which include poor academic performance, obesity, drug use, symptoms of depression, and more. These are all side effects that would negatively impact students’ school experience.

   “During puberty, adolescents become sleepy later at night and need to sleep later in the morning as a result in shifts in biological rhythms,” the CDC said. 

   The reasons don’t end there. A later start time would also decrease the amount of drowsy driving that occurs, and therefore reduce car accidents. 

   According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, “Motor vehicle crashes account for 35 percent of all deaths and 73 percent of deaths from unintentional injury in teenagers,” Colin Lawlor and Nathaniel F. Watson said.

   It’s incredibly clear that Ohio should take the responsible action of the creation of a bill that will push school start times back. While it’s difficult to do this through individual districts, Olentangy could pave the path to a brighter future if they moved our start times back without a new bill set into place. There is no acceptable reason to keep school start times so early when there are so many valid and scientifically proven reasons not to.