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Persuasive Essay : Why Should High School Start?

Decent Essays

The time that high school should start has been a topic of debate ever since the modern era, when the average amount of sleep teenagers should be getting was discovered. This debate has only increased in recent years, prompting some high schools to take action and push the starting time back. But just some high schools making this change is not enough. All high schools need to realize that as students get into more advanced classes and the competition for college gets tougher and tougher, students a beginning to fall behind because of lack of sleep and focus. High school needs to start later because it is better for the student’s health and it will result in a healthier lifestyle for both the students and the school. First, high schools should start later because of health concerns. With students taking harder classes, the need to study and have sufficient time for homework is much greater than middle and elementary school. With early start times, students are forced to stay up late to finish homework because of how late they arrive at home after school ends. Teenagers should be getting between 8-10 hours of sleep, and due to these very early start times, that is something that cannot happen. Along with this amount of sleep comes another reason for later high school starting times, circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms play a major role in the development of teenagers, as during this period of their life, their body becomes tired much later than it was when they were younger. Back when students were in elementary and middle school, they had not begun puberty, so these circadian rhythms were driving sleep to happen much earlier in the night. Now, the desire to sleep does not become its highest until around 11:00. Going off of this, it would be impossible for students to get the recommended amount of sleep with the current way school times are. So, change is needed to provide students with the sufficient amount of the sleep they need. Overall, lack of sleep and circadian rhythms are the main health concerns for high schoolers, which is why the high school starting time should be later. The other point as to why high schools should start later is because of the benefits it will yield to both the

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