Persuasive Essay On Starting School Later

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.

Extracurricular activities and late nights lead teenagers not to be fully awake at school. According to the National Sleep Foundation “The roots of the problem include poor teen sleep habits that do not allow for enough hours of quality sleep; hectic schedules with afterschool activities and jobs, homework hours and family obligations; and a clash between societal demands, such as early school start times, and

Some people may ask, “Why don’t teenagers just go to bed earlier, instead of having school later?” This is a common concern for parents and teachers as well. The fact is, adolescents have different sleeping patterns than adults do. Throughout the day, teenagers are most tired during the morning, and most alert at night (Cerve 4). “The body’s internal clock shifts after puberty, making it

As a result of a changing body and mind, adolescent sleep cycles have different needs than those of adults or younger children. As a matter of fact, Biologically, sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence -- meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm (“Teens”). In addition to biological change in sleep patterns, teenagers also tend to have eccentric sleep cycles. Obtaining less than healthy hours of sleep during the school week and then catching up on their sleep on the weekends. Most teenagers during the school week, do not get the suggested amount of sleep. In fact, according to a recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, 80% of teenagers do not get the suggested amount of sleep of 9 hours on school nights (“School Start”). With changing bodies and minds, along with an increased amount of schoolwork and extracurricular activities, teenagers need more sleep than children of a younger age. Experts believe that moving back the start time of school for high school students will improve grades, test scores, and the overall health and personality of many students.

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).

There may be some of you out there who simply believe, “Why don’t they just go to sleep earlier?” The truth is, that the biological clock in adolescents can change on average two hours from middle school into high school, which means that they are supposed to go to sleep at 11 and wake up at around 8 (“Teens Need”). This time frame is not taken into account in high school start times, which suggest adolescents going to sleep at 9 and waking up at 6. The time suggested by the schools goes against a high schooler 's biological clock, leaving most teens going to sleep around 11 and waking up at an average time of 5:30; a mere 6 ½ hours of sleep is achieved with this time frame, 3 hours less than what has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (Maloney-Dunn). The American Academy of Pediatrics suggest a high school start time of 8:30 or later

DING! DING! That awful sound of the alarm goes off. Sound familiar? For many middle school and high school students across America this is just a typical early weekday morning. This isn’t because teens are lazy, it is because of the school start times. I think teen students’ need a later school start time for many supported reasons. Although, schools starting later means school would end later and possibly interfere with extra-curricular activities, school times should be should be pushed back to later times because students will have a better sleep pattern, students health will improve, and students will have better academic performance.

Assuming by the time teenagers start high school they will have around three hours of homework each night. Most high schoolers will not start their homework right as they get home, they will take a much-needed break and relax for a few hours, meaning they would not start their homework until 8:00PM. The homework is not very easy, forcing them to spend even longer on their homework and they are awake until midnight trying to figure out how to calculate the mass of Saturn.For instance, during the school week most students would be going to bed at 11:32 PM and wake up at 7:20 allowing them to get 7 hours and 48 minutes opposed to weekends where they would fall asleep at 12:56 and wake up at 10:36 getting 9 hours a 40 minutes of needed sleep (Wahlstrom). The amount of sleep they are getting on the weekdays is not sufficient to promote healthy growth. It is important for everyone to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night to be able to function properly. With a lack of sleep comes a risk of medical

Across America school starts on average, at eight o’clock in the morning. When walking through school hallways full of kids on a typical school morning, one may see sleep deprived and tired students not looking forward to their early morning classes, waiting for the bell to ring to signal them to go to class. Students brains are not at their full potential at eight o’clock in the morning because the brain is not yet fully awake. Starting school at eight o’clock is too early for students’ minds. David A. Sousa confirms, “Teenagers are not getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation affects their ability to store information, increases irritability, and leads to fatigue, which can cause accidents” (Sousa 117). Starting school

Research shows that teens sleep cycles are naturally delayed (Should High School Start Later, 2013). About fifteen percent of high schools start at 8:30am or later and, forty percent of schools start earlier than 8:00 am (SiOWfa, 2014). The start times of schools are reducing the amount of sleep a student is receiving on school nights. Most teens start their day at 5:30-6:30 am to prepare for school, but if their natural bedtime is 11 pm or even midnight, they are getting only 6-7 hours of sleep! Remember that teens need at least 8 hours to function properly. To fix this issue schools will have to start later.

Do any of you have classes that start earlier than 10 AM? Do you catch yourself yawning or falling asleep throughout the day? Most of you do. Waking up at the crack of dawn for another day of school isn’t fun for anyone: not for the millions of kids who have to be at school before 8:30 AM and certainly not for the parents who have to drag those kids out of bed. Teen students’ need a later school start time for many reasons: it gives teens the opportunity to get much needed sleep; it improves their academic performance; as well as helping them become healthier.

Most teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Anyone who wants to succeed at what they are do must have the right amount of sleep. Unfortunately, many teens do not get enough sleep. Therefore, school should start later for teenagers. Heath professionals and sleep researchers have stated that starting school early is harming children in many ways. Lack of sleep can cause major heart diseases, diabetes and much more. Many studies show that sleeping less than 5 hours a night increases the risk of death from all causes by about 15 percent. When implemented, the solution would benefit the students and teachers. Both the students and teachers would be energized, and ready for their day. Continuing on, the time schedule

Let's take a look at an average High School students day: John wakes up to his screeching alarm clock at 5:30 am after getting 6.5 hours of sleep, 2 less than the average teen is suppose to get, he pounds his alarm in frustration hitting snooze until 5:45. He is cut short on his 15-minute nap by his mom, someone who has been getting up at 5:30 for 10 years now, she yells to him “Get up, you need to get ready for school”. So John rolls out of bed and into the shower, he gets dressed and eats breakfast before he heads out to the buss that comes and picks him up at 6:10 am. Once at school at 7:10 am an hour later, he finds his seat in homeroom to finish some of his homework before school starting at 7:40 am. He attends classes, lunch, and study halls until 2 pm. John plays a sport and is part of a club, not too uncommon as kids look to stack their college applications with everything they can. He meets with his club from 2:00-3:00 pm, then has to hurry to practice which starts at 3:30 pm and runs until 5:50 pm. John now waits till he can get a ride home from a friend at 6:30 pm, getting him home in time for dinner which starts at 7 pm. He finishes dinner at 7:30 pm and has homework until 10:00 pm. After talking to his friends for an hour on his phone; it is now 11:00 pm, and John falls asleep, only to repeat the same tomorrow. No wonder high school kids are always tired. According to Judith A. Owens who conducted a study on; “Impact of Delaying School Start Time on Adolescent Sleep, Mood, and Behavior.” she states that teenagers need at least 8.5-9.25 hours of sleep a night; this is clearly not happening based on the average high school students day.

“The average amount of sleep that teenagers get is between 7 and 7 ¼ hours. However, they need between 9 and 9 ½ hours (studies show that most teenagers need exactly 9 ¼ hours of sleep)” states https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/sleep-in-adolescents which is a website that talks about teenagers and the amount of sleep they receive each night. Waking up early every morning will take a toll on a teenager, especially, since they have school five days a week, have after school activities, and they have to work on homework for hours on end. With the early start times of high schools all around the world, how do teens get the adequate amount of sleep they need? The answer is they don’t. “The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2015 showed that 73% of U.S. high school students get fewer than 8 hours of sleep on school nights, and 43% get 6 or fewer hours” says http://www.startschoollater.net/wake-up-calls-fast-facts.html which is a website that talks about the amount of sleep teens get, and the amount they

Thud. Another head hits the desk as snores pervade the room. This is the problem you’re trying to solve, right? Students keep falling asleep in class. To be frank, it is happening because we are teenagers; this is going to happen no matter what you do. You can hover over us with a whistle and let out a high, shrilling squeak whenever our eyelids start to droop, but it probably won’t do any good. “So,” you think, “let’s give them more time to sleep.” So, you decide to consider starting school at 9 AM and ending it at 4 PM. Personally, I don’t think you should change the school times to later. Here are my reasons. First off, we will get into the habit and it will affect our entire lives. Secondly, we will have no time after school for much of anything. Last of all, it would probably only make us feel more tired. Here are some examples.