JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers are looking at a way to get teenagers more sleep.
A bill in the Florida House of Representatives would require the first bell at Florida middle and high schools to ring a little later.
"Drowsiness in children, in particular adolescents, is a significant public health issue," said Dr. Jeff Goldhagen with UF Pediatrics.
Goldhagen says the issue of kids needing more sleep isn't new - there's been 30 years of research into school start times that shows students waking up later not only improves their academics, but their health as well.
Goldhagen says teenagers staying up late isn't just what they want to do, it's what their bodies want them to do.
"They are going to stay up later," said Goldhagen. "The melatonin doesn't kick in until later. There are concrete changes that happen during adolescence. Any sense that they should get to sleep earlier is just not physiologically possible."
A bill in the Florida house would require middle schools to start no later than 8 a.m., and high schools couldn't have the first bell ring until 8:30 a.m.
That could have a huge impact in Duval County - although middle schools start late at 9:30 right now, high schools get things going at 7:15,
So, they'd have to start more than an hour later.
Jacksonville-area Representative Angie Nixon was the only one to vote against the bill when it came to her committee.
"I have kids in day care, elementary, middle and high school," said Nixon. "If you change those start times, it's going to be a real struggle for me to get my child to high school around the same time elementary kids need to be there."
She says she could change her stance, but feels there needs to be more conversations first - especially when it comes to the transportation issue and impacts on before and after care.
"I understand the premise behind it, but I think we really need to talk to the districts as well as parents to see how they would be impacted by this bill," said Nixon.
If passed, the law wouldn't take effect until 2026 - giving parents and districts a few years to make the adjustments.
It has a partner also working its way through the Senate, but both bills still have several rounds of voting to go through before they could become law.