Causes Of High School Start Later Essay

First of all, kids will be more energized and be more academically advanced if school starts are pushed back. According to, “Should School Start Later” “Studies show that well rested teens get better grades, have higher standardized test scores, and miss fewer days of school. They also have a lower risk of being in car accidents and have fewer health problems such as depression, mood changes, and being overweight.” Many schools start before 7:45 a.m. and have tired students not putting forth their best efforts while 40 percent of American High Schools start classes past 8 a.m. The schools with later starts

In a recent survey 97% of students wanted school to start later. Students should be able to go to school later because of many health problems. Teens have bad sleep habits and other after school activities that inhibit them from doing well in schools that start early in the morning. Right now school causes lack of sleep and is one cause in child obesity. Starting school at least an hour later can greatly improve the health of students and how well they can do academically. Schools should start later to accommodate teen sleep patterns.

If we were to start school later, academic GPA’s (grade point averages) would definately increase. Isn’t this what we want in our school? It is proven that the more sleep you get, the more awake and alert you actually are. I interviewed Michael Claffey, a sophomore at Newington High School, he stated “ Goooooud.” Also Jorge Premto a sophomore at Newington High School stated “Yes Michael, yes I do believe school should start at nine o’clock am. This will thus help further my education because I will be well rested.” In all, we need school to start later because it will help us with our education.

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

If we start school later then kids test scores will increase, they wont fall asleep in class and they would get the appropriate amount of sleep. According to upfrontmagazine.com, nNew research suggests that later high school starts have widespread benefits. Sleep experts at the university of Mminnesota studied eight high schools before and after the moved to later start times. They found that the later start time, the better off students were on measures like mental health, car crash rates, attendance, and in some schools, grades and standerized test scores. This is an accurate example because it comes from sleep experts at the university of minnesota that have actually studied this topic. With later starting time you’ll have more time to sleep and will be able to pay attention in class so you can get that good grade.

Also, it will take away the opportunity for students to prepare themselves for early college classes in the future. As one mom states on her blog “If teens are going to school later and later, they won't train their bodies to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.  Training their bodies is something that will be useful to them in adult life,” (Grose). Some principles at school still do not believe that pushing back the school start do would be beneficial. They say it is because students only take into account school starting later and not having to stay in school for the same number of hours a day. Also, that children enjoy getting out at 2 or 3 pm because then they have time for extracurricular activities and do not have to miss school if they participate in a sport (Rasicot). People against later start times feel the problem solved could be solved instead by better teen discipline.

According to the article “Should School Start Later” written by Justin O’Neill, he states “nearly 70 percent of teens are not getting enough sleep.” Since students are not getting enough sleep they end up feeling tired during school. If school starts later students will have more time to get ready for school in the morning without having to wake up earlier, be able to sleep in later, and have more time to eat breakfast in the mourning. Students will also be able to have more energy at school especially in the morning. Since students are tired when they go to school “some experts are saying middle and high schools should start later so teens can sleep in” (O’Neill).

Students hate getting up so early for school. Right? Teenagers on average need at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night. A two thousand twelve study shows that students who start school an hour later than usual saw their math scores on standardized tests increase an average of 2.2 percent. When students are able to get the sleep they need, they are able to get up and make it to school on time. Also when students get the sleep needed, they not only are able to make it to school on time but it gives them the sleep they need to be able to function which improves academically. High School start times should start later because it allows more sleep for teenagers, increases attendance and improves academically.

School is not the most desirable place that a teenager would want to be at seven hours a day, five days a week, 180 days a year, and even more problematic is that for them to get to school on time, they have to fight their biological clocks (Hansen). Many schools have started pushing their start times back by even just an hour, and helped with the students grades and mental health by giving them the time they need to sleep (“4 Good Snooze”). Pushing start times back a good idea because it will give students the rest they need to be successful.

If school were to start later, the hours taken off in the morning would have to be added to the afternoon. This means that if school were to start at ten o’clock, it would have to end at five o’clock. People might be inclined to think this would put more stress and and cause more depressed because they would not have enough time to fit in homework. It does not matter how late school ends, if students are able to get a full eight hours of sleep. Students can also go to bed earlier and wake up earlier to do homework. Students who go to bed earlier can wake up to finish their homework or study because. This proves that starting school later would have a positive effect not a negative affect.

Students should start school later in the morning. Starting school later will give teachers more time to prep for tests lessons and fieldtrips, gives more time to get to school as well as more time for sleep. Although some may argue that kids need the educational time as well as parents needing time to get to work, the arguments for starting school later are stronger.

Enough sleep is essential to a kid or teen’s health, focus, and to be less sleepy. Studies show that when the school board shifted the school day later in the morning it boosted attendance, test scores, grades and there was a drop in teen car crashes. Scientists say that the average teenager has a hard time falling asleep much before eleven o’clock and still needs eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep each night. Others still say that it would affect the amount of time for after school jobs, that the buses would need to change their whole schedule, affect parents work, and it would alter after school activities. For overall better health, we need to change it to a later time. Schools need to start school later

In addition, one article states that “Regular and restful sleep is essential for good health, sleep helps you feel less stressed and helps you maintain a healthy diet. Students often have very stressful lives with activities such as going to class, working out, etc (“Despite”). Finally, the consequences of sleep deprivation in a student's teen years can be very serious. Teenagers spend most of the day in school, when they have to wake up for school so early, then be there all day, it can lead to them not getting enough healthy sleep. With this lack of sleep they are unable to get the most they can out of school. With little sleep students can not learn as much and could therefore not know important things necessary for life. Teenagers don’t get tired until about 11:00, so they don’t get enough sleep because school starts so early in the morning (“Effects”). Overall, many students do not get as much healthy sleep that they need. Without sleep, they can not learn as much as they could be with a good amount of

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.