School Start Times

Advocates argue that an 8:30 am start time improves student’s chances of success. In the early morning, when their brains are not fully awake, students are not forced to focus on difficult academic tasks and concepts. From improved learning to better health ,there are myriad of reasons public schools are considering starting school at 8:30. The National Sleep Foundation says that teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best (for some, 8 1/2 hours is enough) but that the

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

School is not the most desirable place that a teenager would want to be at seven hours a day, five days a week, 180 days a year, and even more problematic is that for them to get to school on time, they have to fight their biological clocks (Hansen). Many schools have started pushing their start times back by even just an hour, and helped with the students grades and mental health by giving them the time they need to sleep (“4 Good Snooze”). Pushing start times back a good idea because it will give students the rest they need to be successful.

Changing the start time allows students to gain a longer attention span and to have a better morning. When High School students are more awake, attentive, and present, their academic performances obviously benefit. When school started at 9 a.m. or later 36% of schools said their ACT/ SAT scores were increased by at least 2 points on average per student (“High School Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens”). High standardized test scores also gives the school districts more money to keep their extra-curricular programs, and when students are more attentive and awake during the day, the school can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by being a school with above average test scores. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported in April, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement “finally put a rest to the long-standing question of whether later start times correlate to increased academic performance for high-school students”: Researchers analyzed data from more than 9,000 students at eight high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming and found that shifting the school day later in the morning resulted in a boost in attendance, test scores, and grades in math, English, science, and social studies. Schools also saw a decrease in tardiness, substance abuse, and symptoms of depression. Some even had a dramatic drop in teen car crashes as well. At schools with early start times many students oversleep, causing them to be late for their early morning classes. Ultimately, this results to a higher rate of tardiness and could possibly lead to an increase in the dropout

Later start times will have a better increase on student’s learning throughout the day. “Despite the lack of data, there is a growing concern that children, and especially adolescents, are not getting enough sleep they require to be at their best in school, or work, or in the community” (Wahlstrom 46). This is a good reason for why times need to be pushed back so students can have an easier day to learn being more awake to learn. Teenagers need about 9 to 9 ½ hours of sleep each night. With school starting at 7:45 o’clock each morning, along with the amount of homework

The first reason schools should have a later start time is because of student health. SleepingResources.com claimed, “ Sleep deprivation increases risk for diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.” This can be harmful to health because it can cause serious health problems such as heart disease and strokes. Strokes deprive peoples’ brains of oxygen and nutrients, which can cause their brain cells to die. Also, if someone gets less sleep they have an increased risk of crashing while driving. Teens that can drive would not be awake enough to be able

Starting classes at a later time would allow teens to get enough sleep, and complete their sleep cycle. All schools that start before 8 a.m have teens that are still being pressured by their melatonin to fall back asleep (Nolan). To prevent this urge to fall asleep, many sleep experts have been pushing for school starting times be set at 8:30. This gives teens time to complete the REM stage of sleeping, the dream stage. Allowing them to physically and mentally prepare themselves for the day.

If students come to school with their brain’s not fully functioning yet because of the lack of sleep they had gotten, it would be extremely difficult to do any work. This can lead to low test scores and an impact on their grades and scores. In Source A, Nancy Shute states, “We truly believe that our teenagers are getting six to seven hours of sleep a night, and they need eight to 10.” (page 1). Many teens aren’t getting the full sleep that they need. Instead they are losing three to four hours of sleep. This amount of lack of sleep can cause student’s to be tired while they are at school. Although there have been many reports insisting that teens should be getting eight to ten hours of sleep, only 15 percent of high schools have embraced the change and made their school start at 8:30 or later. Even worse the percentage of high schools that are starting before 8 a.m. is 40 percent. Some may argue their point that middle and high schoolers can sleep at an earlier time to gain the sleep they lose, but pediatricians say that as children become teenagers their sleep-wake cycle changes. According to Source A, Nancy Shute states, “As children become teenagers, their sleep-wake cycle shifts two hours late, so it’s

According to the Center for Disease Control report, “Insufficient sleep in teens is associated with obesity, migraines, and immune system disruption .” (2) Therefore, later start times will improve student health. Coaches would even benefit from the later start times because their players will be healthier, more alert and will not be as tired when they get to practice after school. More students will excel at extracurricular athletic activities.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “ It becomes physically harder to go to sleep early. Yet many schools start as early as 7 a.m. As a result, many teens are exhausted all the time.” “Studies show that tired teens teens have an increased risk of depression, anxiety, obesity, and illness,” According to Jilly Dos. This shows that schools should start later because then teens won’t be as exhausted.

When school starts so early, students just aren’t getting enough sleep. Doctors recommend teens get between 8.5 and 9.5 hours of sleep each night and with all the after-school activities, homework and early school start times, they are not getting that. Less than a third of high school students get 8 hours of sleep on school nights. As children get older, it’s harder for them to fall asleep at night, causing them to go to bed late and when they have to get up early to go to school, they are not getting nearly enough sleep. Studies shows children that do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, not engage in physical activity, suffer from symptoms of depression, perform poorly in school and

Some parents may argue that having a later school start time won’t get teens any more of this precious sleep. In fact, according to NPR, only 40% of parents asked thought that their kids would get more sleep at night. But what many people seem to forget is the fact that when a child reaches puberty, their circadian rhythms (bio-clocks) shift. This unconsciously inclines them to stay up later, and wake up later. A later start time wouldn’t mean kids/teens would go to bed earlier, but it would at least give them a chance to get those hours in if they do. Dr. Judith Owens, director of Sleep MED. Clinic at the Children’s National MED. Cent. in Wash. D.C. says teens are daily asked to be fully awake, alert, and ready to learn at the time in their 24-hour bio-clock where alertness is at it’s

A new report by the C.D.C shows that in 42 states, 75% to 100% of public schools started before 8:30 a.m. The average school start time is 8:03 a.m. Louisiana had the earliest start time at 7:40 a.m., and Alaska had the latest start time at 8:33 a.m. Starting school times later allows students to get the recommended amount of sleep, which is around 8.5 to 9.5 hours. Data suggest that two out of three high school students sleep less than 8 hours a night. Lack of sleep can lead to a cascade of health issues like higher body weight, lower academic performance, medical experts

The National Sleep Foundation says that teens need at least 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep each night, but only 15% U.S high schools start at 8:30am and about 40% start before 8am. This issue has been in the school system for years but no one ever takes it in. This would help students so much, there is no reason why it hasn’t went into effect. There are very little problems to come with it, and the problems that do come can be easily fixed.

"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," said Ben Franklin. But does this adage apply to teens? The impact of pushing back school start times could benefit students, in an assortment of ways! In my opinion, starting school early would most likely improve a students' attitude and study habits.