School Start Time At least 1/3 of all Americans experience symptoms of insomnia (1); and therefore the number includes a large number of teenagers. According to the author of “Stop Starting School Days So Early” the cause of sleep deprivation in adolescents is starting school at 8 or earlier. Author Ann Horton states that it is harder for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 o'clock due to puberty (4). Research from a classroom perspective shows that this is not necessarily true. Lack of sleep does not stem from puberty. Sleep cycles could be attributed to sleep deprivation in Americans. Teens are starting to prioritize activities, social media and electronic devices over sleep. The point to understand is that starting school earlier will not change the number of hours teens choose to sleep. Preventing sleep deprivation could be an advantage if you started school days later. Sleep deprivation should be aimed more at young people in general. Sleep deprivation can become chronic and cause numerous horrible side effects; including heart attacks, cardiac arrest, stroke, obesity and depression(1). Lack of sleep for a few days is also dangerous; can increase a person's risk of motor vehicle injury as your alertness is impaired (1). Many researchers agree that sleep deprivation can act like alcohol in your system, compromising your neurological status (1). If starting school later prevented sleep deprivation among teenagers, it would save many lives. Get the right amount of sleep at night; it is usually agreed that it lasts 9 to 9 and a half hours; it can increase your learning abilities, reduce obesity, manage stress, and make better decisions like avoiding pharmaceuticals(1). If teenagers could get enough sleep, they might have a better outlook on life, improve academic performance, and… half of paper… become so dependent on their phones that they need to text all night, the which makes them lose sleep (3). The cause of sleep deprivation is not school start times but rather electronic devices for most teenagers. The cause of sleep deprivation is not an early school start time; the problem lies with electronics and teenagers organizing their lives. Instead of changing school schedules, teenagers need to be taught when the phone, TV and computer should be turned off. Sleep deprivation is extremely dangerous, but unfortunately changing school start times won't prevent it; changing the start time will only cause more problems. If anything, teenagers need to learn to prioritize their lives with the freedom they have been given. Finally, teens need to be educated about the dangers of sleep deprivation and that texting can wait until the morning.