Persuasive Essay: Why School Should Start Later

Over 87% of teenagers don’t get enough sleep and go to school tired. Teenagers have constant expectations to live up to, but with the amount of sleep they’re getting it can be seemingly impossible. The question has been brought up time and time again, should the school day start later? Because of the risks of not getting enough sleep, trying to keep up with their their busy schedules, and being in their adolescent years, having the school day start later would help teenagers around the world immensely.

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.

Each year, exhausted teenagers leave themselves to another day of battling their bodies clocks so they can get in class on time. It's outstanding that teenagers who don't get eight hours of rest a night confronts a large number of issues. That is the reason why both the American Institute of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control recommend shifting middle- and high-school start times to 8:30 a.m or later. However, during 2011-2012 school year, the latest statistics accessible — just 17.7 % of the national public middle, high and combined schools met the 8:30 a.m. rule, and almost 40% began before 8 a.m. In California, the normal start time was 8:07 a.m.

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.

Did you know nearly 10% of U.S. schools currently start before 7:30, 40% start school before 8 a.m., and only about 15% start after 8:30. Bus pick-ups start shortly after 5:30 a.m. in some districts, and teens must wake up at 5 or 6 a.m. to get to school on time. Meanwhile, the school day ends earlier. We must start caring because if these students grades start to decrease and their test scores will start getting worse in their morning classes. Studies show that if the brain is active in the morning it increases every learning abilities.

“Waking up at the crack of dawn for another day of school really isn’t fun anymore”. Students been having lack of sleep by waking up too early and still getting poor grades. School needs to start later so students can have a better mood, have enough sleep, more time on homework for the athletes.

Have you ever hit snooze so many times you missed the buss? To prevent this from happening schools should have later starting times. Being able to start your day at a later time would be a helper to many students, although, some people may think otherwize. Having later starting times would give kids health benefits, better grades, and the opportunity to miss fewer days of school.

Do you dread getting out of bed early in the morning to go to school? Do you think you would do better in school if you did better in school if you had the chance to get more sleep? Schools should start classes later because teens don't get enough sleep, are at risk for drowsy driving and less school would be missed.

Have you ever been tardy for sleeping in? Or have performed worse in school just because of sleep? Or fallen asleep in class? Well, if school started later none of these thing would happen to you. Schools should start later because it won't have a negative effect on students during the day. Schools should start later because it will decrease the number of students who have health and emotional problems, improve students school performances, and decrease the number of students who are tardy from sleeping in.

School is considered to be one of the most important pieces in someone’s life in order to succeed in the world. While considering this, imagine being able to sleep in and not have to worry about getting up at the crack of dawn in order to be educated everyday. Would one benefit more from sleeping in and putting off school for a bit later in the morning? Would one’s academic scores rise due to the extra amount of sleep? How beneficial is sleep when it comes to education? Does more sleep make a significant difference in a student’s academic achievement? Why should schools consider starting later? Will students really benefit from school start times being pushed back? While some may argue that school should not start later, it would be beneficial for schools to start at a later time in order to ensure that students stay healthy and improve academically.

You are getting ready for work when you notice the strangely quiet house. You wonder what is wrong, and then it hits you: your teenager is not up yet. You storm into their room, shaking them awake and yet the only response you get is a groan and a “just five more minutes” and a “leave me alone.” You notice homework and projects throw in a pile on the floor, evidence of the late night. But yet your teenager is not doing too well in some of their classes, which is confusing. The clock reads 7:27, meaning your son or daughter will be late for school if they do not get up now. After another attempt and another “leave me alone,” you leave, flipping the light on as motivation to get up. Parents all over the country are dealing with the same issue with their middle or high school students. Students in grades six through twelve need later school start times due to the change that occurs in their biology during puberty and the academic and health benefits that can come with delayed times.

Thomas Decker once said, “Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.” School. There’s a lot of things people can say about it. Mostly they’re arguments about school such as should school have trimester or semesters? Or maybe school should be year round rather than having a summer break. However, out of all those, one in particular caught my eye. Should school start later? Now me being a student myself, this was very enticing. Being able to sleep more and have a full night's rest would be delightful. I, myself, believe that school starting later would be beneficial for school and the kids going to school. It would have its pros and cons, but it would be an overall positive impact to everyone.

If only our middle school starts late, what about our elementary students how will they get to school? If school starts early what will we do about the getting out at a later time, bus costs, and the responsibility teens will have to take. This is why we should keep our current schedule

Schools act as if starting earlier would be better for students, and teachers. However, students are having to adjust to starting their school years earlier by setting alarms back, or by having their parents force them out of bed with the idea that this is good for them, and it will be how the rest of their life will work. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute followed up on the idea by recommending teenagers receive nine to ten hours of sleep per night. Six studies, two of which were controlled, were held to further back up this information. They found found that delaying the start of school from 25 to 60 minutes increased sleep time for students 25 to 72 minutes. It was also found that students in the study went to bed at their normal bedtime, and got more sleep in the long run. A parent wrote to Carroll in response saying, “You ask if it is too long or too short, and I say both - too long for teachers who are already putting in a full day, too long for students who are burned out by the end of the school day, too long for mandated children that have to bide their time before their after school programs start, and too short to be any real use,” (Carroll).