School Start Times
As many teenagers know it is hard to wake up early in the morning, get to class on time, and still be able to pay enough attention to gain the knowledge needed to achieve the academic performance that they desire. Most schools start between 7:30 and 8:00 causing kids to get up early in the morning. This sparks a debate for students who don’t get enough sleep because of work, homework, and after school activities. Even though it may cause problems for students there is economic reasoning for starting earlier. School start times are causing many issues for students, however; there are many benefits to starting school at the earlier time.
Being sleep deprived can cause a lot of problems for a developing teenager. Many kids who miss out on sleep are more likely to suffer from depression and are involved in bad behaviors like smoking and using tobacco, drinking, and doing drugs (School Start Times). This shows that schools that start earlier are more likely to have students who struggle with mental illness and it makes it easier for students to make bad choices. This is bad because it is statistically showing that the earlier that students start school, the more likely they are to make detrimental choices to society.
People need to get enough sleep to be able to function and learn. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggest that middle school and high school students get at least 8 hours of sleep and recommend that schools don’t start until at least
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.
Adolescents and adults need around 9 hours of sleep daily (De Souza 5). Since schools are starting so early, they can not get the needed sleep time, eight to nine hours. Even though teachers go to school the same time as students, consequences are worse in students and it seems to have more of a critical effect on students. No matter if it is a student or a teacher, the quality of sleep is very important for everybody.
The school day should start later in order improve students’ mental health. Survey results have consistently indicated that middle level and high school students who start school at 7:15 a.m. or earlier obtain less total sleep on school nights due to earlier rise times in comparison to students at later-starting schools. () This is just the beginning of the negative impacts that early start times have on students. By starting school at a later time, students’ brains will function better, their grades and learning increases, and will be more mentally stable.
According to the article “But I’m Not Tired,” by Alice Parker, the article states “Many kids ages 10 to 12 years old only get 7 - 8 hours of sleep.” Schools need to adapt their start time and end time. Schools also need to adapt after school activities. Class time should be at least 40 to 50 minutes long. Studies have show that 7 hours of sleep is minimum requirement hours of sleep per night. Studies have also shown that 46% of nights, students sleep less than 7 hours. Studies also have shown that sleep is vital to humans well-being, as important than the air humans breathe.
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.
Traditional school schedules affect students sleep patterns by forcing them to wake up early when their body wants to sleep, which leads to sleep deprivation (wol.iza.org). Again, sleep deprivation can lead to lots of negative mental and physical health issues. Npr.org says, “Teenagers are getting six to seven hours of sleep a night, and they need eight to ten.” Because most students do not become tired until around eleven or midnight, they are unable to get the right amount of sleep because the school start times are so early (wol.iza.org).
24 hours without sleep makes people's mind go to a state as if they were legally drunk. This is why middle school start times should be later, because sleep deprivation leads to serious consequences for academic achievement, more sleep makes athletes perform better and get injured less, and not getting enough sleep can effect your physical and mental health, perhaps permanently. While the opposing side says that it is preparing kids for the real world, it really is just making them grow up too soon.
For example, students actually perform worse when sleep deprived, dropping grades, and drop the school’s standardized test scores. With later start times children get more sleep, and children that get more sleep are generally prone to have better grades and overall better test scores. With longer sleep times children wake up with more energy and a better outlook on that day’s activities. Children that have later sleep times are proven to want to go back to school every day, and have a better attitude about learning. Children should have later start times, later
(https://www.educationdegree.com/articles/why-start-school-later) In an article from The Atlantic it says that the American Academy of Pediatrics says kids internal clocks “operate differently than those of other age groups. It’s typically more difficult for adolescents to fall asleep earlier in the evening than it is for other age demographics.” The AAP has specifically “urged schools to adjust the start times” so more kids can get enough sleep. (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/08/why-school-should-start-later/401489/) Those kids who don't get enough sleep may have lots of health risks that can have very bad consequences on mental well-being. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says (https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p0806-school-sleep.html) that no school should start earlier than 8:30 so that schools can provide students a chance to learn at their maximum capabilities. Another group, The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, claims that “adolescents 13 to 18 years need to
Young people who do not get enough sleep night after night carry a significant risk of developing health issues. Teens are among those least likely to get enough sleep; while they need an average 9 1/4 hours of sleep per night for optimal performance, health and brain development. In the article, Later School Start Times From: The National Sleep Foundation 2013 it explains that young people who do not get enough sleep night after night carry a significant risk of drowsy driving; emotional and behavioral problems such as irritability, depression, poor impulse control and violence; health complaints; tobacco and alcohol use; impaired cognitive function
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
Students all over the United States complain about the start times of the school day. Due to the school start times, students are often unable to receive the amount of sleep recommended by their teachers, as well as being unable to complete everyday activities from lack of energy. It has been proven that delaying school start times causes an increase in students academic performance because it allows students to sleep for longer periods, improve their moods and behavior, and fully apply themselves more in their everyday tasks and functioning.
Imagine this, it’s 5:00 in the morning you’re all groggy and tired, so you sleep in until 6:30. Finally, you wake up and notice you have to take a shower, get dressed, organize your backpack, eat breakfast and then suddenly you miss the bus. Just great! In many school districts the school’s starting schedule is a topic of controversy. The school day should start later in the morning. This change will prevent kids from falling asleep in class. As well as, making the children more responsive and ready to learn. Finally, it will give kids time to eat a healthy breakfast in the morning.
Many people are familiar with the saying, “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," but does it really apply to high school students? Sleep is not a luxury, it is a biological need, and most high school students do not get enough sleep at night, wake up early at five, and usually either fall asleep during class or cannot concentrate. Therefore, school start times should be pushed back an hour later. In order to improve this nation-wide issue people need to look at the consequences on student health, such as depression and weight gain, and also the effects of sleep deprivation on academics. In order to understand the issue, it needs to be examined why it is a concerning problem. The solution to this problem of early school start times is for schools to beginning pushing back the start time of school, which will in turn improve various factors in the students.
School’s start times have been an arising issue in the United States for many years and recently began to surface. More and more individuals everyday are realizing the effects of a school’s start time on those attending the school, teaching at the school, parents of those who attend the school as well as the surrounding community. “…education seems to be the most sleep-deprived field in America” (Black, 2001). Beginning a school’s start time at 7:17 in the morning isn’t the best time to try and teach adolescents calculus or Shakespeare. “For many, the unusually early start time is nothing short of torturous. A survey of 26 Denver –area companies showed that the average adult trudges into