School Start Time Research Paper

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.

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).

Having a later school start time can increase a student’s academic grades and awareness. Thirty-three percent of teens say that they fell asleep in class. Even though this is a small portion of teens, falling asleep in class shouldn’t even happen once. Also, this means they are getting less than what they need,(eight to nine hours of sleep a night). A school needs to pack as much teaching time as they can in a day, but if that means waking up a student at a time so early, then there's no point.When a student doesn’t sleep as much, students are not aware as they would be if they had a good night’s rest. If students had this sleep, the would pay more attention in class. Therefor, a student would have better grades.

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.

As children age and move from the first decade of life into the second the temptations to stay up later increases. The preference to stay up later is nearly universal among teenagers in all cultures and has even been observed in other mammals suggesting a biological basis. At the same time teenagers are beginning to stay up later and their recommended amount of daily sleep (8-10 hours) remains unchanged. Teenagers are unable to sleep in later as school start time determines when they must wakeup in the morning. This has led to an epidemic of chronically sleep deprived teenagers with only a small number of teenagers actually receiving

Their health is affected because students may not be getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep also known as sleep deprivation can include: “weight gain and eating disorders and increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes; reduced immunity; depression; anxiety; substance abuse; mood swings; behavior problems; suicidal ideation; and potential impacts on brain development” (Why). The recommended amount of sleep for growing teens in middle and high school is eight to ten hours a night (MacMillan). The recommended amount of sleep for teenagers is difficult for many teens to achieve because of how early school starts and how late they get home from school related activities the night before. For example, if a student was in basketball they could have practice from after school to five or later, or they could have a game an hour away. After their practice or game they could have a lot of homework and need to study for a test they have the next day. Students then go to sleep late, still having to get up early the next morning and go to school to take that test. The amount of sleep also has to do with the way the teen brain works. Emily Richmond says, “Adolescents’ ‘internal clocks’—the circadian rhythms that control a human’s responses to stimuli and determine sleep patterns—operate differently than those of other age groups. It’s typically more difficult for adolescents to fall asleep earlier in the

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.

Statistics show that students who are less likely to get eight hours of sleep are two thirds likely to get injured than those who do. Both the CDC and the Pediatricians group cited significant risk that come with lack of sleep, such as obesity and depression. Researches analyze data from high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming and found that schools that start later in the morning had tremendous increase in attendance, test scores, grades in math, English, science and social studies. Sleep deprivation and chronic sleep loss can put you at risk for heart disease and heart attacks. The average teenager gets an average of 7.4 hours of sleep a night when they really need eight to ten hours.

Have you ever been late to school because you slept in? Have you ever missed the bus because you are still sleeping? Since the dawn of time, schools have started early schools always wanted to get a head start on the day. Even elementary schools start at the same time as middle school and high school. With schools starting early school districts think that children with have time for homework and extracurriculars. Schools shouldn’t continue starting early because students wouldn’t be rushed and stressed, students would get the recommended amount of sleep, and students would have better grades.

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

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, teenagers need 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. However, only 34% of teens report getting 8 hours of sleep on a school night (Ming, Koransky, Kang, Buchman, Sarris, and Wagner). If we started schools later student's health would improve. It could also potentially help prevent some bad conditions that the CDC associates with prolonged sleep deprivation. People who do not get enough sleep are at a higher risk of diabetes, problems with obesity and poor mental health.

Early school hours prevent many students from getting the doctor’s requirement of 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night. “The CDC’s recommendations come a year after the American Academy of Pediatrics urged schools to adjust start times so more kids would get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of nightly rest” (Emily Richmond). Because the typical sleep cycle for teens begins around 11 p.m., this causes many

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.

The problem is simple: school starts entirely too early. No one in their right mind wants to get up at the crack of dawn every day to go spend their day in a school for 7 hours. According to a report by the Centers of Disease Control, “in more than 40 states, at least 75 percent of public schools start earlier than 8:30 A.M.” (Richmond). It’s common sense that more sleep equates to better learning habits. “‘Getting enough sleep is important for students’ health, safety, and academic performance,’ said Anne Wheaton, the study’s lead author and epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of Population Health said in a statement. ‘Early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need.’” (Lewis). Not many

I wake up at 6:30 to start day during the week. I shower and eat breakfast before I leave for school at 7:20. School starts at 7:30. I only have five scheduled classes this school year. I leave school at 12:10. I then go home and take a shower before I go to work at 1:00. I leave work to go get food around 3:00. I go back to work around 3:30 and continue my job. I get off of work at 6:00. I then rush home and change my clothes and get ready for baseball at 6:45. I warm up and stretch for the first 15 minutes of practice. We normally play catch and then go into defense and offense. Baseball last until 9pm. I go home and take a shower. When I get out of the shower I start eat dinner. I start to work on my homework for a few hours. I start to