\Education in America: And How To Start Fixing It Education is a very important part of our society. It is the entire foundation for how upcoming generations learn about the world and how to interact with it. However, our education system faces several problems that prevent it from operating as effectively as it should. Now some of these problems are quite complex, which makes sense, as if they weren't, they likely would have been solved by now. Regardless, the problems that are going to be focused on are the interactions between students and teachers, as well students and other students. In addition, the problem of sleep deprived kids attending school and the focuses of our education system as a while. Thus, I propose later starting times for schools, a shift in the focus of early education, and a greater prioritization of resources for schools. First and foremost, the easiest problem, teenagers are sleep deprived. Teenagers need around 9 hours of sleep to function properly. "Today nearly 3/4 get under 8 hours of sleep per night, and over 2/5 get 6 or fewer." Why Change. The detrimental effects of sleep deprivation are as varied as they are well known. "Sleep deprivation's impacts include: weight gain and eating disorders and increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes; reduced immunity; depression; anxiety; substance abuse; mood swings; behavior problems; suicidal ideation; and potential impacts on brain development. "Why Change. Furthermore, anyone who's tried to attend class on too few hours of sleep knows its awfully hard to learn anything. It's pretty clear that teenagers need more sleep and the easiest way to do that is to push the starting hours for schools up and inform parents, as well as students, that a regular sleep schedule is important. Evidence also supports that this is not only a good idea on paper, but also in practice. Several schools across the US have found that pushing up their starting hours has resulted in overall increased health and performance for students. Secondly is the interactions that happen at school, in the way the students interact both with teachers and each other. It's clear from both personal experience and research that kids today are harder to teach than ever. “Why It's So Hard to Teach Students These Days." It is a question of students unwilling or unable to participate in learning and not respecting teachers enough to even try. Being able to command the attention and respect of students today long enough to teach them is a difficult feat indeed. With the shift towards technology and quick short blurts of social media, it results in a lower ability to learn. "Those habits are marked by short attention spans, a very limited vocabulary and unwillingness to look up new words, an aversion to lengthy passages, and a preference for “scanning” rather than close reading." “Why It's So Hard to Teach Students These Days." Fixing something like this is impossible to do in a single step. However, when looking for solution to a problem, sometimes it is best to look at the example of others. Many education systems across the world differ, but one that produces remarkable results is Japan's. There is one facet of that education system that would be incredibly beneficial to export to America. The first three years of schooling in Japan are not spent on exams and learning 'scholarly' subjects, but rather on how to act. "Children are taught to respect other people and to be gentle to animals and nature. They also learn how to be generous, compassionate, and empathetic. Besides this, the kids are taught qualities like grit, self-control, and justice." Brightside. These are traits that are shamefully lacking in American students. One of the ways Japanesse students are taught respect and hard-work is that instead of relying on janitors to clean the classroom, they are entirely responsible for cleaning the school themselves. In schools today it is rare to see students pick up after themselves, much less others. In the past it this sort of character building was left to the parents. However, it is becoming more and more apparent that this is not sufficient. Teachers do far more than the job description and don't get compensated accordingly. According to a survey of more than 1,800 public and private school teachers conducted in the 2015-16 school year by the nonprofit AdoptAClassroom.org (of which I am the executive director), the average American educator spends $600 of her own money every year on basic supplies. Education Week. Imagine if, when going to work at a fast food place, you had to pay for spatula to flip burgers, to pay for replacement parts for the ice-cream machine. You are not expected to pay for these things, it would be un-reasonable to expect such a thing. Yet teachers have to deal with this everyday. And that's just in order to fulfill the most basic of educational requirements, let alone additional supplies that might make lessons interesting and exciting. But even beyond that, teachers spend far more hours than is on the job description, not necessarily because they want to, but because its virtually impossible to do the job competently without doing so. Hours they don't get paid for. Stack this on top of a mediocre pay grade to begin with and not only is the job difficult to preform, it's unappetizing to consider starting. Teachers are in high demand and short supply, "In 2008, there were about 3.5 million kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school teachers in the country, so we can expect almost another 500,000 to be hired by 2018. Also indicative of the high demand for teachers is the large volume of grants available for teachers." Teach. grants availiable for teachers." Teach. “Teacher Shortage Areas by State.” Teach: Make a Difference, Teach, 2018, teach.com/become/where-can-i-teach/shortage-areas/. Ness, Ann. “Teachers Spend Hundreds of Dollars a Year on School Supplies. That's a Problem.” Education Week, Editorial Project in Education, 28 Feb. 2018, www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/08/02/teachers-spend-hundreds-of-dollars-a-year.html. “Why It's So Hard to Teach Students These Days.” The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, 13 June 2016, www.jamesgmartin.center/2008/07/why-its-so-hard-to-teach-students-these-days/. “Why Change?” Start School Later, StartSchoolLater, 2017, www.startschoollater.net/why-change.html. “10 Distinctive Features of the Japanese Education System That Made This Nation the Envy of the World.” BrightSide - Inspiration. Creativity. Wonder., Brightside, 14 Apr. 2017, brightside.me/wonder-places/10-distinctive-features-of-the-japanese-education-system-that-made-this-nation-the-envy-of-the-world-214655/.