Persuasive Essay On Later Start Time

Every morning students in the United States feel the effects the early start time many schools have implemented. These students are lethargic and inattentive, due to the lack of sleep they are getting every night. Typically, adults see these characteristics as the result of teenagers staying up late watching Netflix or using their cell phones. Many reputable organizations, such as the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have researched this problem and found that teenagers are lacking in sleep due to biological and physiological changes that are occurring within their brains. These shifts cause students to be more inattentive and reckless, resulting in lower grades, tardiness, and higher rates of car

This article by the National Sleep Foundation describes how adolescents today are not getting the recommended amount of sleep and in return do not perform appropriately or at their maximum level at school. Through different scientific studies it was discovered that adolescent NATURALLY fall asleep at 11 P.M. or later. One study looked at the melatonin secretion in patients and how it occurred later at night in adolescents. Through research the National Sleep Foundation has urged schools to synchronize school clock with student body clocks (If teens naturally fall asleep at 11 P.M. and require 9.5 hours of sleep, school should start approximately at 9:00-10:00 A.M., 1 to 3 hours after current SC school start times). This sources supports my claim to start school later and provides support research about the negative aspects of sleep deprivation in adolescents and the importance of reforming school start times

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

In many districts, elementary and high schools start classes at about the same time each day. However, the students that attend these schools have very different sleep needs because they are at different stages in their development. Scientific research has shown that high schools should start classes later to address the major problems created by sleep deprivation among teenagers. By doing so, the health and learning abilities of adolescents would greatly improve.

Late starts in high schools have improved students’ academic performance immensely. With late starts, teens would be able to sleep for the suggested amount of sleep, and it would improve

Everyone knows, or has heard, that on average teenagers should obtain at least 8 hours of sleep, and some even say the minimum should be 9 hours. However, “according to the National Sleep Foundation, only 14% achieve this goal, and approximately 70% of adolescents obtain less than 8 hours of sleep on a typical weeknight,” says Ph.D. holder Dr. Julie Boergers. Currently, only about 40% of US high schools start before 8:00 A.M. and many even start at 7:30 A.M. or earlier. To add on, many teens now days work part time jobs starting right after school, and some of them don’t return home until 11:00 or 12:00 p.m. Of course, this doesn’t take into consideration the homework a student has from school, so on average adding two hours, most teen would go to sleep at 1 or 2 at night. This only leaves about 4 to 5 hours of sleep for many teens. With only four to five hours of sleep in a student’s schedule there are many problems that can come. For short-term effects, lack of adequate sleep can affect the ability to learn and retain information, mood, judgment, and may increase the risk of injury, or a serious accident. In the long term, sleep deprivation may

When someone imagines the ideal high schooler, the social norm seems to always be staying up late, and waking up early. But this trend has taken a toll on the student’s brain. The problem with early start times in schools is that kids are just too tired to think at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning. This is important because this topic is a common issue right now in schools. Palm Desert High School has a late start on Wednesday’s because it gives teachers the time to have their meetings, but it also gives us high schoolers an extra hour or so of sleep. According to the article “Sleep in Adolescents (Thirteen-Eighteen Years),” the average amount of sleep high schoolers get is between 7 and 7 1/2 hours. High Schoolers should be getting between 9 and 9 1/2 hours but most teenagers need 9 1/2 hours of sleep. Late start values kid’s education and thinking abilities by letting them get more sleep

Most people have experienced the days when the last thing wanted to be done, is to wake up and go to school. Young teen minds need plentiful sleep in order to function and develop properly, however when school begins too early, there can be damaging effects, that affects how well students learn. Forcing teens to wake up earlier for school affects students the quality of student’s performance in the classroom.

Students in high school struggle with sleep so seriously that medical professionals call it an epidemic, with 87% of students getting less than the recommended amount of sleep (Richter). It’s difficult to balance sports and extracurriculars with school and homework, and, come junior and senior year, college applications and jobs as well. All these activities in students’ lives leave them little time for a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately for them, sleep is actually crucial, as it has not only been shown to improve GPA, but also help students with memorizing information (Hershner). Not to mention that most high schools start classes early in the morning, with 29.9% of schools starting before 7:30 am, according to a 2012 survey (CDC). According

School start times for adolescents in the United States are typically too early to be healthy for this age group. There is significant evidence from the research literature that early starts have serious negative impacts on students. In particular, early education start times in adolescence cause chronic sleep deprivation, which damages both adolescents’ education and health. Fortunately, chronic sleep deprivation is one of the more preventable public health issues facing the nation.

In puberty, the body 's natural sleep cycle shifts, making it harder for teenagers to fall asleep earlier than 11 p.m. Teenagers ' bodies release melatonin, a hormone in the brain that is discharged in the evening to induce drowsiness and stays elevated throughout the night to promote sleep. The problem is, according to the National Science Teachers Association, that most teens melatonin levels rise later at night than a majority of young children and adults do. This results in teenagers going to bed and wanting to get up at later times. According to the U.S. Department of Education, forty-three percent of U.S. public high schools

Most teenagers need at least 9 hours of sleep per night in order to stay focused. Yet the period of this 9 hours shifts as a person grow older. After puberty, the body’s internal clock changes so that it is difficult for teens to fall asleep before 11pm. So even if a student go to sleep at 11, they would need to sleep until at least 8am to get a full night's sleep. Considering the time at which most high schools in this country begin, those nine hours are clearly being cut short. Few high schools starts after 8am. However, there are schools that have paid attention to this research and pushed forward the start of their school day. In 2015 Fairfax county High Schools changes its morning schedule and pushed forward an hour for students to get

Adolescence is an important time for physical, cognitive, and emotional changes in behavior, a time in which one’s developmental process is continually challenged by new experiences and abilities (Wolfson and Carskadon 875-87). Sleep is a crucial aspect in adolescent development. In this stage, they often struggle with getting the necessary amount of rest needed each day due to late night studying and assignments during school nights. In more than 40 states, at least 75 percent of public schools start earlier than 8:30 a.m., according to the CDC’s report (Richmond). As children grow into adolescents, they tend to experience changes in their sleep-wake cycle, causing them to exhibit a natural preference to go to bed later and wake up later in the day (Carskadon 258-62; Dement & Vaughan).

This rhythm in the body controls the production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and determines when the body is ready to go to sleep and when it is ready to wake up and fully function (Carrell et al., 64). During adolescence, there are changes to one’s circadian rhythm that results in later bed and wake-up times. Although these delayed phases in the cycle can be a consequence of several social and behavioral factors, these changes are mostly biological and involuntary. These patterns of nocturnal sleep tendencies are not typically seen in preadolescents and adults; they are unique to the changing bodies and minds of adolescents. The peak production of melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone, does not stop until about 8 AM (Carrell et al., 64); however, by that time, most students are already seated in their first period classes. As a result of later wake times, it is difficult for students to wake up early in order to attend morning classes, which may foreshadow poor performance and cognition throughout the school day. They are forced to be alert and focused at a time when their body wants to be

Students are the adults of tomorrow, yet policy-makers keep denying them the amount of sleep necessary for them to have a good overall health. As a recent graduate from high school, I can personally testify that I did not get anywhere near the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep. Between numerous after school activities I participated in, such as sports teams and clubs, doing homework, practicing musical instruments and still having to go to zero-period classes; class that starts at 7:30, I would be lucky if I got 6 hours of sleep. Poor time-management skills contributed to my lack of sleep, but having classes that starts at 7:30 to begin with is beyond me. For teenagers to wake up so early is literally defying the way their biological clocks are designed and can cause several health conflicts both physically and mentally that can all result in the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. In this essay, I will be talking about the history and the science of sleep, the several harmful effects due to lack of sleep, then the benefits of getting sufficient sleep and finally, propose a short-term and long-term solution to help high school students receive the necessary 8 to 10 hours of sleep.