I Am Mie Pretlow's The Teenage Brain

Decent Essays
I am writing to you on behalf of your influential book, “The Teenage Brain”. Your experience and expertise as a neurosurgeon has me confident in your abilities to understand how much sleep teenagers need for a healthy lifestyle. As a teenager myself, I am constantly in need of more sleep. Not only do my peers and I lack sleep, but also constantly stressing about school and all the tasks we must manage in such a short period of time.

I am Mie Pretlow, a current junior at Niceville High School concerned with the nightly sleep schedule of current teens. As I have learned from your novel and my AP Psychology class, the brain of a teenager is in a time of neuroplasticity where the brain is undergoing a significant amount of growth. I am very interested in both studies of neuroscience and psychology and wanted to get your opinion on the belief in school starting times. With your studies on the teenage brain, what times do you think high schools around the nation should start?
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Currently, my school begins at 7:00 am, which is quite early when factoring our extracurricular activities (such as band) that get out at 8:00 pm. I would personally like to see our school starting times be pushed back to 8:00 am in order to get an extra hour of

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