I’m considering moving to Blackfoot. Not for work, or because the weather is better, but because my whole family could sleep in 30 minutes, every school day.

Trustees in the Blackfoot School District are considering moving school start times ahead by 30 minutes, potentially giving students (and parents!) an extra half hour to sleep.

I don’t know who came up with this brilliant idea (besides every teenager, ever), but I am thrilled to see a school district willing to make the change. Blackfoot is not the only district trying to get their students more sleep. Oakland County Michigan school district moved it’s start times ahead by 40 minutes to increase student achievement. California has also been trying help it’s students by working to pass a bill that would require all high schools to wait until 8:30 am to start.

More sleep is good.

The CDC recommends that kids, ages 13-18, should be getting 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night That’s one to three hours more than adults. When kids regularly fail to get sufficient sleep they have a “higher risk of obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and problems with attention and behavior.” The CDC estimates that over 70 percent of teenagers do not get enough sleep.

My teenagers are part of that 70 percent. They do not get enough sleep. They wake up before 7 a.m. and don’t get home until after 6 p.m. (due to school sports). It is after 10:30 p.m. by the time they eat dinner, shower and do their homework. Sometimes they are up even later, if they have a sporting event or exam to study for.

I am exhausted for them.

Do your kids get enough sleep? Maybe we should all move to Blackfoot.