Editor’s note: Wellesley Middle School Social Studies students as part of a Civics Action Projects has this week taken over The Swellesley Report‘s letters-to-the-editor page. The students are well-versed in their topics, have carefully researched all angles, and are ready to present their opinions to the community. Thank you to the WMS Social Studies teachers for organizing this community-based project.

To the editor:

The Wellesley Middle School start time needs to be later. Our first class starts at 7:45am, before most adults have even left for work.

For too long schools have started before 8am, even when studies show that it can be harmful to learning and the students. In Massachusetts school start times are on average earlier than the rest of the US, making this especially important here. Massachusetts law requires 180 days of school, and 900 hours per year, but it doesn’t say anything about when it could start. In the past two years, more than a dozen school districts have changed their start time later, and we should be the next.

Studies show that developing teens need more sleep than elementary school students. Teens need eight to ten hours of sleep per night, while on average they get about seven. The most important part of teens’ sleep starts about three hours before they would have to wake up for a 7:30 am school day, again showing they don’t get the sleep they need.

Teens also can’t just go to bed earlier. When they turn about 12, their circadian rhythms change. Circadian rhythms are the 24-hour internal clock inside our brains, which regulate melatonin release. When it changes it makes the circadian rhythms not release melatonin until about 11pm, making kids not feel sleepy until then.

Furthermore if kids don’t get the eight hours of sleep they need, it can lead to serious health and safety problems. These include depression, anxiety, illness, injury, growth stunting, obesity, diabetes, and for high schoolers, car accidents.

In Newton and other school districts, they didn’t change start times in a month; in fact it took several years. The school system created a study group, which made the final decision after a few years of research.

Our final “ask” for the School Committee is to create a study group, like Newton did. We don’t think a group of three students can create that much of a change in a month, but we think an official group can, given time.

Nolan Coyle
Lucas Chen
Kyle Watson

Wellesley Middle School students