The best button in the world is the snooze button. We all wish we could hit snooze 1 more time. But ultimately, we must get up from the comfort of our bed to endure the hardships of the world. Except now, you can hit that lovely snooze button 1 more time.

In 2018 and decades before then, Noblesville Schools’ middle and high schoolers began school at 7:35 am. Suddenly, in 2019, the school pushed times back to 8:40 whilst making elementary students start nearly an hour earlier. For many students at NHS, it has made time management much harder, but for many other students, it doesn’t really matter.

“I like the time change,” says Zoe Westlund, “I am so much more awake in the first class of the day. And I have been really on top of homework and classes.”

Westlund is a junior at Noblesville High School and participates in the Leo Club and NHS’s Volleyball team. She enjoys the time change even when she gets to bed late.

“While I do get home late from a game, I get an extra hour of sleep. So instead of waking up at 6 am, I wake up at 7 am.”

While Westlund certainly enjoys the effects of the time change, other students have found difficulties managing their schedules with limited time in the day.

“I get home later and I either need to go to work or go to [soccer] practice, so I don’t have a lot of time for homework,” says junior Tyler Maxsymovitch.

While Maxsymovitch has met schedule conflicts, he still reaps some benefits from the time change.

“I get a lot more sleep than last year, actually.”

Ultimately though, Maxsymovitch is not a fan.

“It’s just really annoying, especially with school. It’s like, I get home, have to drop my brother off from school and get ready for work.”

While many students may disagree with this decision, it was research that encouraged the time change, such as the research from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

“The AASM asserts that middle school and high school start times should be 8:30 AM or later,” says a position statement from the AASM.

The AASM notes that limited sleeping in adolescents is linked to a variety of issues from poor school performance to increased adolescent automobile incidents. It goes on to claim later start times can limit these issues.

“Studies show that implementation of later school start times for adolescents is associated with longer total sleep time, reduced daytime sleepiness, increased engagement in classroom activities, and reduced first-hour tardiness and absences.”

The AASM encourages schools, students and parents to help children get more sleep to be safer and to be better students.

“Every middle school and high school student deserves the opportunity to start school awake, alert, and ready to learn.”