I am worried about my college essay not meeting the prompt’s requirements. Any suggestions?
Prompt:
Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
Essay:
There are many problems that I would like to solve, but I am only talking about one. The lack of necessary sleep that teens are receiving. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls this problem a public health epidemic. The key contributor to this problem is middle and high schools. The Academy suggests that schools start no earlier than 8:30 AM: however, some schools start as early as 7:00 AM. Waking teens up early affects more than grades, it affects their physical and mental health as well as their driving.
During the adolescent years, teens bodies are changing and adapting, including their sleep cycles. Melatonin, which is a hormone that affects sleep, is secreted by the body’s pineal gland. This is a small gland located slightly above the middle of the brain and is responsible for telling our bodies when to sleep. For teens, melatonin is secreted around 11:00 PM to 8:00 AM. When some teenagers need to wake up for school before their body is ready, it can lead to an insufficient amount of sleep. The recommended amount of sleep is at least eight to ten hours. Only 9% of high school students are receiving the recommended amount and what is worse is that 20% are getting less than five hours a night. Studies have shown that a lack of REM (or Rapid Eye Movement) can have an impact on our ability to learn. Because of waking up early, they wake up, feeling tired and do not absorb as much information compared to being well rested. Teenagers are more likely to be depressed, get into car accidents, and have heart disease. A study by two Minneapolis area districts has proved many benefits to later start time. Both schools started at 7:20, one school changed their start time to 8:30. They found less sleeping in class, less student-reported depression, improved attendance, fewer visits to school counselors, and more docile temperament at home. Teenagers need more sleep, so they can have a better mental state and a better ability to learn.
This topic is extremely important to me because this affects my health and eventually my younger brothers’ health. These changes might not be taken into effect until after I graduate from high school. There are going to be students after me that need this change, including my brothers. There are several ways that I can enact change within my school district. To start, I can put together a petition signed by teenagers and their parents. I can also vote for school board members when I can. I will vote during primary and midterm elections as well as encourage others to do so. Another thing that I can do is inform teenagers and their parents about the dangers of early school start times. This is so they can advocate for later start times as well.