The debate is still out on the best time for teenagers to wake up in the morning, and though studies do link later waking times with more robust academic performance, it’s not an option for most of us.
California is the first state to issue a statewide mandate for schools to push start times to 8.30 am. But if you live outside the golden state, your kids will still need to get up early while maintaining enough sleep.
The deciding factor of wake time is the time you go to bed. It’s the same for teens; if they stay up late playing video games, reading, or talking with friends online, they will naturally want to sleep in later.
So getting to be early enough and having them fall asleep earlier is usually the key. The CDC recommends that high school students sleep 8-10 hours each night.
This means that if your high schooler needs to wake up at 6.30 am, they need to go to bed at 9.00 pm to get 9 hours of sleep (assuming it takes them 30 minutes to fall asleep.)