Persuasive Essay About Starting School Later

According to a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 83.6 million Americans are sleep deprived (Almendrala). Among these sleepy Americans are teens, the most vulnerable to sleep deprivation, primarily due to demanding school schedules. For decades, school boards and administrators have contemplated the question of whether their school should start later. On the one hand, it is said that the change would interfere with parents’ work schedules, and transportation logistics, causing stress on families. It would also interfere with students’ extracurricular activities, after school sports, student employment, and reduce the time to access public areas such as libraries. On the other hand, a change

Many high school students wander into school each day shuffling around and trying not to pass out in their classes. In order to cut back on sleep-deprived teens, we must follow through with this solution; it would give students enough time to go to bed early and wake up at an appropriate time. According to Sleep Foundation, teenagers require eight to ten hours of sleep and are not getting that with the current schedule. Many teenagers have discombobulated biological clocks and need the opportunity to adjust their sleeping schedule as they see fit. If this plan were to be put into practice, more positive attitudes would emerge from schools all over America due to their fulfilled need of sleep, which would give teachers, students, principals, counselors, and even parents a more productive start to each day. On the other hand, I realize that the opposing side of this intelligent solution may proclaim that some teenagers would abuse this and go to bed even later, but people must also realize that a large amount of teenagers who wish to succeed academically would gladly not abuse this and respect this privilege; although there would be some teenagers to mistreat this, it is up to the maturity level of the student, and they choose whether they want to succeed or

The question, when should school start has become a very controversial topic over the course of the last few years. Many schools are considering changing school start times to a later time, or have already implemented later start times in middle and high schools. Parents, students, and educators have had mixed responses toward this change. Students are coming to school sleep deprived, and many people feel the answer to this is changing the schedules. Starting school later is not beneficial because many students will not be receiving any extra sleep and this change would only complicate schedules for sports and parents.

Most kids end up going to sleep after midnight every single night, not getting enough sleep is very unhealthy and could lead to some serious problems. In the opinion of Fred Danner and Barbara Phillips, they emphasize the fact that early school

Students at Hillsborough High School have to wake up at around 6:00 am to get ready for the school day. But, is it healthy? Scientists have proven that while young kids may be able to wake up earlier, adolescents’ biological clock causes them to fall asleep later and wake up later. Not only does this cause midday fatigue, but it affects a student's grades, emotional status, and can lead to drugs and alcohol. It is common knowledge that getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night is not adequate, especially for teenagers in their transition to

Many people cant really wake up at 6am in order to get on the bus and be here at school, they will be tired and not wanting to attend for the day. In my opinion, I think High School should start later on in the day so students can be more awake then before. A lot of people don't wake up at 6 on their own they need an alarm clock just so they can get up, usually waking up after 9am is when most kids are up and fully awake. Students that are tired wont be doing much work because their simply tired and cant focus. There are some benefits and disadvantages, one benefit is not falling asleep in class when students start to zone out because of sleep they tend not to pay attention anymore because their just thinking "I want to go home

Lack of sleep contributes to many problems for teenage students. Students who start their school day at 7:30 or 8:00 am are not as well rested as those who start their school day at 9 am. Students suffering from sleep deprivation have higher absences from school, more tardiness, lower grades, and they are less happy. They are also at risk for a lot of other problems. Lack of sleep can affect learning ability and it can even affect graduation rates. Sleep deprived students risk their safety and the safety of others when they get into a car to drive because sleep deprived students are also more likely to be involved in early morning car accidents. Schools might say students need to go to bed earlier, but the studies show that doesn’t help as much as one would think. The reason? Earlier bedtime doesn’t help because a teens’ natural sleep cycle starts later in the evening and their natural time to wake up is later in the morning than when 80% of the schools in the United States start their school day. An

However, if schools started later there could be a chance of reducing sleep deprivation in teens. Teens generally need an average of 9 hours per night, yet they receive less than 7 hours of sleep. Today, the major issue adolescents face is chronic sleep. Mary Carskadon’s team found out that students who showed up for morning classes before 7:30 were seriously sleep-deprived, forced their bodies to be awake and run contrary to their internal clocks. In addition, the lack of sleep can cause a student to fall asleep in class. According to a survey done by the CDC, 20-30% of high school students fall asleep in school each day. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that, “School districts should optimize sleep in students and urge high schools and middle schools to aim for start times that allow students the opportunity to achieve optimal levels of sleep to improve physical and mental health.” Also, a major study at the University of Minnesota have shown that the consequences of insufficient sleep are associated with obesity, immune system disruption, smoking, violence, and depression. Consequently, early school start times can result in fewer hours of sleep as students don’t compensate this with earlier

The obvious goal for schools across the nation is that their students do well academically and learn how to excel in life. However, students are being restricted from learning and reaching their full potential in school because of the lack of sleep that they are getting. Students are arriving at school with not nearly enough sleep to carry them throughout the day.The main factor as to why students aren’t getting enough sleep is because school is starting to early. If school started later students would receive the amount of sleep that they need in order to be safe and healthy, to excel academically and to keep their bodies as physically healthy as possible.

As a student at Kingsland High School, I have frequently needed to wake up before six in the morning. There are seldom times where I have actually got the amount of sleep that is required for someone my age. The solution to mine and everyone else’s problem is to start the school day later in the day. Scientists have found that adolescents need, on average, nine to nine and a half hours of sleep per night, but two-thirds of teenagers reported sleeping less than seven hours a night. This causes multiple students to be sleep-deprived throughout the school day. This weakens the student's learning, memory, attention capability, and even impairs their health. Studies have shown a link between mental illnesses, a weakened immune system, and higher stress due to sleep-deprivation. Academics also are affected when schools start later in the morning. Teachers in schools that start early have noticed an improvement in the classroom when teenagers are more alert, less moody, and less tired as a result of a great night's sleep. Although there are several benefits of starting the school day later, frequently people disagree with the adjustments.

“Chronic sleep loss in children and adolescents is one of the most common – and easily fixable – public health issues in the U.S. today. The research is clear that adolescents who get enough sleep have a reduced risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are less likely to be involved in automobile accidents, and have better grades, higher standardized test scores and an overall better quality of life. Studies have shown that delaying early school start times is one key factor that can help adolescents get the sleep they need to grow and learn.” (qtd. in Strauss)

Lack of sleep is becoming an increasing concern in adolescents and its effect on their lifestyle. Mainly, their attitudes in school and outcomes in their test scores. Less than half of American children get at least nine hours of sleep each night, and 58 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds regularly sleep fewer than seven hours each night (The Atlantic). In this essay I’m going to explain the problem of lack of sleep, the solution to the problem, discard refutations, give a visualization of a correct sleep schedule, and do my best to convince you of the importance of a correct sleep schedule.

Almost every day high school students are waking up around six o’clock in the morning to get ready for school, some even earlier than that. Nearly every morning students are waking up without adequate sleep. If sleep is one of the most essential needs of the body in order to grow and develop, shouldn’t we be more aware of how much it affects students everyday performance? The ways in which students are affected by sleep-deprivation is precisely why school needs to start later.

It is estimated that only 15 percent actually get these amounts (Kids Suffer from Sleep Deprivation). This is particularly important for students who wish to do well in school. Dr. Carl Hunt, the director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, is spearheading a sleep campaign. Her philosophy is, “Sleep well, do well.” This is something that shouldn’t be taken to lightly. Sleep problems effect about 70 million Americans of all ages. Teens often have problems with daytime sleepiness. The old idea of early to bed, early to rise isn’t necessarily the best answer. Society is simply asking to much of teens (Sleep experts to teens). A combination of school, work, study and leisure, leaves very little time left for sleep. Being deprived of sleep definitely has an effect on how well students do in school and may be putting their health at risk. College students who stay up all night to study for a test or write a big paper that’s due often have no choice because of the pressures to do well and succeed, but at what price do they pay?

According to The Journal of Youth and Adolescence, with every hour of sleep lost by a teenage student, there is a 38 percent increased risk of that student being sad and hopeless and a 58 percent increase in suicide attempts (Gregoire par. 8). This horrific fact is proof that not only does sleep have a significant impact on teen health, but it can lead to frightening results such as suicide and depression. Many argue that the teenage years is the most significant time in development, so it seems counterproductive that some schools’ schedules deprive students of much needed sleep. By implementing a later start time than currently exists, schools would enhance students’ chances for success. A later start time for high school classes would result in more sleep time, which is beneficial to students because adequate sleep elevates mood, enhances health, and improves academic performance.