High School Start Time

For years and years there has been a lot of discussion about when a reasonable time for students to wake up and go to school should be. There are two main sides. One side believes that school should start later, and the other side believes that the school start times should not be changed. The average teenagers’ alarm for school goes off as early as 6:00 A.M. A little less than half of U.S. public schools start before 8:00 A.M. Studies show that over half of students are not getting 8 hours of sleep or more. That leads to the 33% of teenagers who are found asleep in the classroom (Owens).

One of the biggest struggles for students today, is the struggle to wake up for school in the mornings, and to make it to class on time. Because of the start times that many high and middle schools currently have, students are having to get up early to get ready, therefore providing them with little sleep at night. They are faced with their everyday schedules, things that are happening in other parts of their lives, as well as having to keep up with their schoolwork. All of this results in a loss of sleep, with the added factor of having to wake up early in the mornings. Having a later start time for schools is beneficial for student’s health, safety, and their overall performance in school.

Do you wake up in the mornings to your alarm and snooze it because you are still tired and need more sleep? Many students have complained about the time you are required to get up for school. Most teens are arguing that it is healthier for them to get more sleep. In the article “Despite proven benefits, Starting School Later Remains ‘A Tough Sell’” by Tim Walker, claims that “...letting students sleep and starting school later can lead to better health and academic outcomes.”. Students should be given more time to sleep because it is good for them.

Going to bed at 2:00 in the morning and waking up at 6:30 AM to go to school is a nightmare for anyone. Unfortunately, this situation is far too common in today’s schools. But have you ever wondered how insufficient sleep affects your everyday life? Schools must start later. With early start times thwarting students’ health and safety, adolescents needing more sleep in general, and teens having trouble sleeping early, later start times are essential.

Beep Beep Beep Beep. It is 5:30 A.M, you were up late last night working on an atrocious math assignment; and all you want is to roll over and ignore that you have to go catch the bus at 7:15 A.M. Sometimes, you’re lucky enough to get a ride or drive to school and get an extra five or ten minutes of sleep, while still making it to first hour in time for the pledge of allegiance. Then, by the time second hour rolls around it is only 8:30 A.M. This example shows school start times are affecting the teenagers and preteenagers of our generation. These early school start times are beginning to create a decrease in students grades, concentration levels, tardiness, absences, and the amount of sleep the students are getting each night. For the first time, the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention is urging education policy makers to start middle and high schools later in the morning. The idea is to improve the students sleep and concentration levels during school. As you can see, high schools and middle schools should start later in the morning.

The CDC press release reported fewer “than 1 in 5 middle and high schools in the U.S. began the school day at the recommended 8:30 AM start time or later” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1). Anne Wheaton an epidemiologist in the CDC’s division of Population Health explained that getting enough sleep is important for students “health safety, and academic performance“ however “Early school start times are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need” (1). The American Medical Association issued a 2016 policy statement supporting delayed school start times to improve adolescent wellness. Specifically the new policy calls on “school districts across the United States to implement middle and high school start times no earlier than 8:30 a.m.” (American Medical Association 1). As with the other health organizations the AMA mentioned health concerns as a primary reason for recommending later school start times. “Sleep deprivation is a growing public health issue affecting our nation’s adolescents, putting them at risk for mental, physical and emotional distress and disorders” (1). The AMA believes delaying school

This would also minimize crashes during morning commutes. This is because many teens drive themselves to school are inexperienced. If they are drowsy when driving, they could endanger themselves and the people around them. According to an article by Fred Danner and Barbra Phillips, delaying school start times may decrease the risk of motor vehicle crashes.

There is an increased tension growing throughout the country due to the conflict occurring between schools of whether or not they should have a later start time. While some may say having an earlier start to the day will allow an early finish out of school, others may argue that this may cause lack of sleep which would impact many student’s health. Many support that school should have a later start time because it would increase sleep, academic performance, and reduce the risk of traffic-related accidents.

As a result, many teachers have a excellent explanation for not changing school start times, but they will need to know what the pediatrics need to say. By changing start times to a later time, teenagers could have a healthy life, and could get a better score on tests. “There's a price to pay” says Dr. Judith Owens, which studies have shown that lack of sleep in teenagers the risk of traffic accidents and makes them more vulnerable to depression and

Due to lack of sleep, drowsy driving is common along with risky behaviors and poor attendance. Research shows that a positive outcome from later school start times is it can improve physical and mental health. Students are sleep deprived which increases the risk of driving accidents and dangerous decisions such as the use of drugs and alcohol (Reddy). This shows that the amount of sleep teenagers get can alter the way they behave and can even cause them to make poor choices. Also, “A study by an economist after 146,000 middle school students in North Carolina started school an hour later showed math and reading scores went up two to three percentile points. In addition, students watched TV 15 minutes less per day and spent 17 minutes more on homework per week. In 2011, a study of first- year cadets at the Air Force Academy showed a similar correlation. Freshman take the same courses, but those who began before 8 a.m. scored lower in all classes than whose who started an hour later” (Manning). This quote proves that when students start at a later time, they have more energy and score better on tests Also, children are spending more time on their school work which causes a decrease in the time spent watching TV. Since studies show an advancement in teenagers’ behavior and academic grades, schools should start the day later in the

According to the National Assessment of Education Progress performance of U.S. students in reading and math has not improved significantly since 2015. The reason most students don’t perform at their best is that they are overtired. Most school start times are before 8:30 a.m., going against what most doctors recommend. As children get older, they need more sleep and school start times are not allowing them to get that.

Did you know that that 69% of U.S. High school students get less than 8 hours of sleep on school nights, and 40% get 6 or less hours? Now imagine that you’re that student and you get into bed at 9 but can’t completely get to sleep until 11. Most children can’t help staying up late because that’s just how their body works. There are many reasons we should start school later in the day, I’m just going to tell you a few of them…

On average in today’s society most teens don’t like going to school that early in the morning. To have to wake up so early when they only get about seven hours of sleep, to have students be coming into school at 7:30AM or maybe even earlier in some other schools, is not right. Students need to have time at night to get work done, not only schoolwork but also non-schoolwork. Needless to say, the school schedule for high school students needs to be changed and be made where they go in later. That way they get their work done and get enough sleep because without much sleep students will not be getting high grades. A health survey that the University Health Center administered showed them that one in four students say that lack of sleep has

When my fifteen-year old cousin was in high school, she was required to jump out of bed as early as five-thirty in the morning in order for her to arrive to school on time. As a result, she did not receive an adequate amount of sleep daily, which led to her dozing off her classes; the lack of sleep in her high school years essentially reflected poorly on her school performance. Even though some people may argue that high school classes should not begin later in the day, there are several reasons that prove otherwise. First of all, later school times will allow students to receive a sufficient amount of sleep. Secondly, it will improve school performance for students, and lastly, teenagers will be more engaged in their education. Therefore,

So, the later the starting time of school, the better students will do. Students are more focused and alert when their body is fully awake at school, thus their willingness to learn is higher since they can operate. In “Sleepy Teens: High Schools Should Start Later in the Morning”, Mark Fischetti states, “Hundreds of school districts in the U.S. have experimented with later start times and the academic performance of students has improved across the board. A study released in February that tracked 9,000 high school students in three states showed that grades in science, math, English and social studies all rose when school began at 8:35 or later” (Blogs.ScientificAmerican.com). When school districts have done an experiment to test if there was a beneficial factor of starting schools later, it has been proven. Throughout the nation, these 9,000 high school students, in just three states, have managed to boost their grades when school has begun at 8:35 or later. These pupils have achieved a higher success in math, science, English, and social studies when the school day began at a later time. Thus, this concludes that changing the school time to a later time will be beneficial for the students