Against Later Start Time For School

Over 87% of teenagers don’t get enough sleep and go to school tired. Teenagers have constant expectations to live up to, but with the amount of sleep they’re getting it can be seemingly impossible. The question has been brought up time and time again, should the school day start later? Because of the risks of not getting enough sleep, trying to keep up with their their busy schedules, and being in their adolescent years, having the school day start later would help teenagers around the world immensely.

Staying up until 1am to finish math homework and studying for that huge history test next class is pretty routine for some teens. Juggling school, sports, a social life, and other extracurriculars is tough, and teens are already in a critical period in their life. It is the time period in which teens grow and learn the most, and sets them up for a bright future. Staying healthy both mentally and physically is imperative, and sleep is probably the most important. Schools starting as early as 7am limits a teen’s potential. If schools were to start later, the benefits would be endless. Schools starting later improves both physical and mental health of students, keeps the individual and those around them safer, and improves students performance in school and sports.

Early start times negatively affect teens in many different aspects. Many people say school starting early has worked fine in the past years, we have learned to adjust to it. Change will be hard, why change school times now? Yes, this is true, it will be a change, but it is a change worth it in the long run. Although we have adjusted to early school start times, it does not mean the current schedule is best for teens. School can begin simply too early considering most teens don’t get the opportunity to fulfill their sleep needs. This is often caused by homework, a busy social life, extracurricular activities, and family all combined. Sleep is well needed, but the necessary sleep amount is lost with early start times. Additionally, current school schedules are not benefiting teens; it comes with discouraging effects, there is evidence to support this. The National Sleep

Do you ever wake up and feel like you haven’t gotten enough sleep? The reason is because in reality you probably haven’t. Studies show that schools should not start any earlier that 8:30 in the morning due to teens suffering from sleep deprivation. There are many negative effects this condition can have on a teens body including a direct effect on one’s physical and mental health, public safety and excelling in the future. In the Ted Talk video, " Why school should start later for teens" by, Wendy Troxel.  Ms. Troxel explained why school should start later for teens.. Students are very drowsy in the morning and are usually rushing to get to school on time which limits breakfasts times and healthy food options. Schools should start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.  for several reasons  but sleep deprivation is  the most important. Sleep deprivation can cause a direct effect to a child’s general health and behavior, public safety and potentially future success.

In the first place, students are not getting enough sleep. In the article “Should School Start later” by Lisa M. Herrington [20] “According to the National Sleep Foundation “59% of 6th-8th graders and 87% of high schoolers aren't getting the sleep they require”. This quote shows that students are not getting the sleep they need. And kids must wake up early how are they getting the sleep we need. “So why don’t kids just go to sleep earlier? It’s not that simple” Says Danny Lewin, a sleep specialist at Children's National Health system in Washington, D.C. “Adolescents have a deeply programmed biological clock to go to bed later and wake later” Says

Typically, people enjoy receiving an extra hour of sleep, even an extra five minutes of sleep. Teens are just one group of people who enjoy sleep. Unfortunately, teens are unable to obtain the correct number of hours per night. Later school start times would be beneficial because the schools would see an impact on attendance, increased school performance, and based on several studies, students would receive the recommended amount of sleep. The psychological effects would greatly outweigh the negative effects caused by an early start time. Benefits of a later start time include, better health, improved grades and teens reaching the recommended amount of sleep per night. Downfalls of starting school later would be transportation issues, coddling

There may be some of you out there who simply believe, “Why don’t they just go to sleep earlier?” The truth is, that the biological clock in adolescents can change on average two hours from middle school into high school, which means that they are supposed to go to sleep at 11 and wake up at around 8 (“Teens Need”). This time frame is not taken into account in high school start times, which suggest adolescents going to sleep at 9 and waking up at 6. The time suggested by the schools goes against a high schooler 's biological clock, leaving most teens going to sleep around 11 and waking up at an average time of 5:30; a mere 6 ½ hours of sleep is achieved with this time frame, 3 hours less than what has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (Maloney-Dunn). The American Academy of Pediatrics suggest a high school start time of 8:30 or later

Schools can adjust their times and start early. If schools started at least an hour or two earlier, it would help kids not be as tired during school. This would give kids the right amount of sleep they need. According to the article, “But I’m Not Tired” by Alice Park, most middle aged children need 10 ½ hours is ideal. The author states, schools in Edina, Minnesota, shifted the start time from 7:25 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Teachers reported that fewer students are falling asleep in class, and many are getting better grades. Students and parents are pleased with the results.

First, schools should not start later because transportation would be an issue. Some parents may have trouble getting their kids to school because of their work schedule. For example, Liz Szabo, from USA Today, she quoted Daniel Domenech, in her article “Study: Most teens start school too early in morning to get enough sleep” states, "It's a logistical nightmare," said Daniel Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association., who said that school districts have to consider the cost of school buses, as well as traffic...” This is significant because most school districts have at least one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school that would need busses to take them to and from school. Parents would not benefit if school started later because parents would now have to worry about being late to

School starting later does have it’s positive affects it also has its negative effects as well. School starting later would allow students to sleep later, but according to the High Schools with late start times help teens but schedules and after-school can conflict, “potential complications,such as additional costs if buses were added, child-care issues where late-day schedules might prevent teens from picking up younger siblings after school, and implications for teams if they end up playing in the dark.” According to Fox News Megan Kuhfeld says, a student in California,” I enjoyed waking up later than everyone else in the area next to me where there were early start times, but as a member of the tennis team, she had to miss sixth and seventh period classes to compete at other schools.” Although school starting later would give teens more time to sleep, it would cause conflicts between their schedules after

School should start later. Waking up at six in the morning to get ready for school really makes kids mad. They have to go through the rest of their day doing work when they feel tired and just want to go back to bed. But what if they didn’t have to wake up that early because school started later? Why do school start at 8 in the morning? All it does is make kids not want to be there. A lot of people say that school should start later. Later starting would mean that kids get enough sleep, they

Is sleep important? A question that many people wonder to themselves at night. Of course, the answer is yes. Sleep is one of the most important things in our lives, it keeps our brains healthy and working. It gives our brain cells time to relax and not over-work. However, some teens aren 't getting the 8.5 hours of sleep they need, and believe the school is responsible for it. In most districts, schools start times around 7:00 am in some cases. Parents and students believe that the school district should change this and make the start of the school day later, so that they can get the right amount of sleep they need to function. In the Scope article, “Should School Start Later?” by Justin O’Neill, “Teachers Oppose Later Start Times” by Julie Zauzmer and Dana Hedgpeth, and “Eight Major Obstacles to Delaying School Start Times” By The National Sleep Foundation, discuss the issue surrounding the idea of students not getting enough sleep at night and that we should make the start of school later. On the other hand, other people think that the school day should stay the same. Although some people argue to make school start later, I think the times should stay the same because school ending later will mess up students after school schedules, getting more bus drivers would be expensive, and changing the school times might send the wrong message.

Finally, having school start later helps promote the safety of the kids. When school starts early, teens usually don’t get enough sleep.

The national sleep epidemic that has taken the world by storm is also taking a toll in not only teen’s health but also their performance in school as well as personal safety. The sleep deprivation that teens are experiencing everyday has caused many health problems as well as academic problems. I believe starting school later will hinder this ever growing teen sleep deprivation problem we face today. Letting teens sleep later is beneficial to their learning capacity as their heightened alertness improved their classroom performance as well as better memory and many other crucial achievements. So probably starting school later, but no later than eight thirty am, will lead students to perform better in school and their health will improve drastically.

One of the reasons that school should be started later is because it does not give growing teens enough time to sleep. Sleep researcher, Wendy Troxel, who spoke on TED, says that high school aged kids’ sleep cycles do no start until 11 p.m and do not end until 8 a.m. This means that whenever students’ alarms go off from anywhere around 5-7:30 a.m, it simply does not