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Schools Should Start Later In The Day Research Paper

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As one of the most debated topics around the world, the decision on whether schools should start later in the day or remain at the same early times is still undecided. There are several reasons proving that starting schools later would be beneficial, most of the reasons revolving around the idea that students don’t get enough sleep, or that they don’t have enough time to do all of the work thrown at them. While most schools start the day before nine o’clock, many studies have shown that the overall performance of students would improve if schools started later in the day. In high school, junior year is typically labeled the hardest year out of the four. There are many different factors that increase the amount of stressful thinking that goes…show more content…
The amount of sleep a person gets each night affects the mental and emotional sides of the human body as well. Lack of sleep will increase the risk of depression and other serious mental problems. Most of these problems could be solved with just a few extra hours of sleep. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that a good amount of sleep for an active student is between 9-10 hours. (Walker 1) Mary Carskadon, PhD, listed just a few out of the many benefits to gaining more sleep, them being reduced likelihood of absenteeism and tardiness, receiving better grades, and having less of a risk of metabolic and nutritional deficits like obesity. Carskadon is the director of the Chronobiology and Sleep Research Laboratory at the Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island, and she is also a Professor for the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University School of Medicine. (National Sleep Foundation 2) A couple times out of the year, I will be tardy to my first hour class for accidentally sleeping through my alarm because my body naturally doesn’t wake up for two or more hours. It is a common problem for other students at my school as well. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement collected data that states that “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.” (Richmond
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