Persuasive Essay : Should School Start Late?

First there are many serious risks of being sleep deprived. Since so many teenagers are dealing with stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep, if they do this for too long it can have a major affect on their health. The third leading cause of death between the ages of fifteen to twenty-four is suicide. Dealing with sleep deprivation is a major risk factor for having suicidal thoughts, whether or not the teen is depressed. Sleep is food for the brain, without it, it can take a major toll on people. Studies have shown that those who go to bed late do worse in school, and experience a harder time controlling their emotions. Lack of sleep can also affect teens in the long run; causing them to have a higher risk of obesity and diabetes. Sleep deprivation is very harmful to teens, their body needs sleep to function properly, without it, it can damage certain things. Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist, said “[Sleep deprivation] is extremely detrimental at all stages of life, In the teen years, when development continues the sleep deprivation effects of brain and body development are significant,” (Breus). This shows just how important sleep is for someone. Having a goods night rest helps their minds, making everything easier, and helps them develop properly.

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.

Schools all around the nation have starting times for school, that are too early for the students and teachers alike. Schools starting times should be 8:30 in the morning or later, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Sleep loss has become more common in children due to early start times which only gives them 6-7 hours of sleep a night when growing children should have 8-9 hours a night. children suffer the chronic loss of sleep due to the hormonal roller coaster that you call puberty, which only lets them begin to go into a REM sleep around 10 p.m. . It’s also been proven that adolescent children suffer from highers risks of physical health problems, mental health problems, lower test scores, missing school, substance abuse, and being in a car crash due to sleep deprivation. Students end up having to get up before 6:30 to get ready and catch the bus or walk to school, but when you have to study for hours after school, eat, clean up, participate in extracurricular activities, including sports and clubs, and do chores in less than 4 hours to get the sleep they require to be healthy mentally and physically it’s almost impossible. School should start later to better our future generations, with more sleep we could have more positive members of societies.

One reason teens need to have sleep is because according to Justin O’neill’s the writer of the article Should Schools Start Later? teens suffer with grades. It's important that kids make good

School could be a pain, especially forcing yourself to wake up early in the morning just to go to school. We could at least wake up more later than early in the morning if we are going to school. Imagine if you could go to school later than usually. This plan actually help students. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging education policymakers to start middle- and high-school classes later in the morning. The idea is to improve the odds of adolescents getting sufficient sleep so they can thrive both physically and academically. The school day should start more later because student needs enough sleep, students could get excessive sleepiness in adolescents and

Do you ever wake up and feel like you haven’t gotten enough sleep? The reason is because in reality you probably haven’t. Studies show that schools should not start any earlier that 8:30 in the morning due to teens suffering from sleep deprivation. There are many negative effects this condition can have on a teens body including a direct effect on one’s physical and mental health, public safety and excelling in the future. In the Ted Talk video, " Why school should start later for teens" by, Wendy Troxel.  Ms. Troxel explained why school should start later for teens.. Students are very drowsy in the morning and are usually rushing to get to school on time which limits breakfasts times and healthy food options. Schools should start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.  for several reasons  but sleep deprivation is  the most important. Sleep deprivation can cause a direct effect to a child’s general health and behavior, public safety and potentially future success.

Waking up in the early hours of the morning for school sometimes seems like the hardest thing to do, mostly it’s because most of us are not getting enough sleep and getting enough sleep is a biological necessity. Sleep is just as important as the air you breath. Teenagers need on average nine and ¼ hours of sleep per night in order for high performance and brain development but the average amount of sleep for teens is 7 hours or less a night.

It would be nice if students could wake up at 7:00 and feel refreshed and be ready for a good school day. Well, students can’t do that because of the “IMS Student/Parent Handbook”. It states in the handbook “7:25 a.m. to 2:25 p.m.” which are the school times when school begins and when it stops. Independence Middle School should start at 8:15 a.m. because students will be more alert, they will have more time in the morning to eat, and they will learn the material better.

Serious health issues like depression could be caused if a teen doesn’t get enough sleep, but with homework to do, essays to write, and exams to study for, it is hard to get a good night’s rest. A later starting time for school could significantly help. O’Neill says, “Studies show that tired teens have an increased risk of depression, anxiety, obesity, and illness,” (O’Neill 20). From this quote, it is evident that many health conditions could arise from not getting enough sleep. However, not only mental problems can develop.

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

Many teens do not get enough sleep due to early start times and increased homework loads. Teen brains have different biological clocks that younger kids. This means that teen brains require eight- and a half to nine- and a half hours of sleep

We should have school start at a later time than usual. This will help many people stay awake during classes. Many people in my school are really tired because we stay up late and have to go to school early in the morning. It will be worst if we have to wake up and hour earlier and be more tired for school. This will certainly help grades and help people stay up.

According to the National Science Foundation Sleep Poll, school age children average 9.5 hours of sleep a night. However, the National Science foundation says they should be getting 10 to 11 hrs of sleep each night to achieve the best health and brain development. Some parents may argue that children just need to get to bed earlier. However this may not be possible for many children.

To begin, school starting as early as it is, teens don’t get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep is affecting the body negatively. Teens usually get six to seven hours of sleep but Dr. Cora Breuner says, “ We truly believe that our teenagers are getting six to seven hours of sleep a night, and they need eight to 10 (Shute).” Sleep deficit is what most teenagers face. Teens try to redress this by consuming caffeine. Caffeinating to get through the day or trying to sleep more on weekends cannot fix this problem (Shute). In fact it makes it worse.

In discussions of whether or not schools should start later, one controversial issue has been that it gets in the way of parents work schedules. People who believe that it’s too much of an inconvenience claim that it’s never too soon to start getting used to an early schedule. On the other hand, those who believe schools should start later assert that it’s much better for a student's concentration and overall health. My own view is there are more benefits than negatives and we should really start to consider such a change.