Beep! There goes the alarm, time to go back to the everyday schedule. Dress, brush teeth, breakfast, get in the car. Most of time, I find myself half-asleep during this routine. The monotonous steps to get to school could make me fall asleep without even having to wake up early.

“The problem: Teenagers need a lot of sleep — about nine hours each night, experts say. And most of them aren’t getting enough,” according to NPR.

The 7:20 a.m. start time gets difficult to be fully functioning for. Many of my friends and I talk about the first bell slump when you are incapable of deep thought.

“In fact, at least 20 percent of high school students fall asleep in class on a typical day,” according to NPR.

I find many classmates falling asleep in class, whether or not the teacher calls them out. Sometimes they spent most of the night doing homework because of their sports or activities. Teenagers need time to recharge and get ready for the next day of learning.

Superintendent Mark Wolak studied this at his own Mahtomedi School District in Minnesota. He noticed that they had better attendance and less students slept during class after the switch to a later start time.

“Research on the sleep needs of adolescents and their ability to pay attention and learn in the early morning hours supports Wolak’s observations,” according to NPR.

Teenagers need more time to sleep than adults, as the majority of them are still growing. Also, taking in seven hours of new information and learning, several hours of homework afterward, and physical and social activities takes a lot of energy. Students need the time to get a proper amount of sleep.