Should School Start Later In The Morning?

According to a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 83.6 million Americans are sleep deprived (Almendrala). Among these sleepy Americans are teens, the most vulnerable to sleep deprivation, primarily due to demanding school schedules. For decades, school boards and administrators have contemplated the question of whether their school should start later. On the one hand, it is said that the change would interfere with parents’ work schedules, and transportation logistics, causing stress on families. It would also interfere with students’ extracurricular activities, after school sports, student employment, and reduce the time to access public areas such as libraries. On the other hand, a change

It is 4:30 in the morning; I have to finish an essay that I had no time to do last night due to the long hours of marching band and the research report over the origin of the Tenrikyo religion. Which my physical and mental exhaustion, I push through it and turn in a B paper; hardly enough to maintain honors. Why do we do this to ourselves, America? Why are students put through long, exhausting days at school and forced to stay up into the wee hours of the morning just to maintain good grades? Is there not a simpler solution? *

For five days out of every week, teenagers fall under a monotonous routine that they must follow even though it may not be preferable. The routine consisting of waking up early, trying staying awake to learn during school, and then working until the next school day with minimal sleep does not consider anything about the teenagers’ health. Not only does waking up very early in the morning damage the health and wellness of students, but it also has an impact on the grades that they receive in school. The stress and focus that students have in class is dependent on the amount of sleep they get each night. It is also unjust to force parents to have to wake up before normal work hours to bring their children to school. More time in the morning allows students to get the sleep they need while staying on track with the work schedule of adults. Schools in the United

Would you like to start school later? Would you not want too? Some people think school should not start later. Others think school should start later.I think school should not start later.

“It’s 6:00 a.m., the alarm blares loudly in my ear, I struggle to open my eyes and drag myself out of bed, I finally wake up, get ready, arrive at school, and before I know it, I am asleep in first period.” “Two out of three U.S. high school students sleep less than 8 hours on school nights (Yeager).” According to Dr. Robert, an associate professor of internal medicine in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School teens need at least nine hours of sleep. Getting a sufficient amount of sleep is crucial to be healthy and to function properly (Holohan). When teenagers reach a certain age, their bodies sleep cycles start to shift. Teenagers naturally want to fall asleep later and wake up later because of their bodies “inner clocks (Yeager).” Schools should start later in the morning because it can improve student’s academic performance, reduce teen car crash rates, and helps prevent emotional disorders.

Lack of sleep contributes to many problems for teenage students. Students who start their school day at 7:30 or 8:00 am are not as well rested as those who start their school day at 9 am. Students suffering from sleep deprivation have higher absences from school, more tardiness, lower grades, and they are less happy. They are also at risk for a lot of other problems. Lack of sleep can affect learning ability and it can even affect graduation rates. Sleep deprived students risk their safety and the safety of others when they get into a car to drive because sleep deprived students are also more likely to be involved in early morning car accidents. Schools might say students need to go to bed earlier, but the studies show that doesn’t help as much as one would think. The reason? Earlier bedtime doesn’t help because a teens’ natural sleep cycle starts later in the evening and their natural time to wake up is later in the morning than when 80% of the schools in the United States start their school day. An

However, if schools started later there could be a chance of reducing sleep deprivation in teens. Teens generally need an average of 9 hours per night, yet they receive less than 7 hours of sleep. Today, the major issue adolescents face is chronic sleep. Mary Carskadon’s team found out that students who showed up for morning classes before 7:30 were seriously sleep-deprived, forced their bodies to be awake and run contrary to their internal clocks. In addition, the lack of sleep can cause a student to fall asleep in class. According to a survey done by the CDC, 20-30% of high school students fall asleep in school each day. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that, “School districts should optimize sleep in students and urge high schools and middle schools to aim for start times that allow students the opportunity to achieve optimal levels of sleep to improve physical and mental health.” Also, a major study at the University of Minnesota have shown that the consequences of insufficient sleep are associated with obesity, immune system disruption, smoking, violence, and depression. Consequently, early school start times can result in fewer hours of sleep as students don’t compensate this with earlier

You know that feeling of waking up in the morning to your alarm clock, eyes burning, knowing you have a stressful day ahead? This should not happen, schools should start later.

Having school start at early hours in the morning forces teens to wake up often hours before the recommended nine hours for adolescents. Not enough sleep causes extended drowsiness, denying students the chance to fully focus during classes. Without a proper night’s sleep, morning classes could often be faced with drowsiness, taking away students focus in class, and impairing their learning abilities. Without complete focus in the classroom, information being teached to students is lost; without full knowledge and understanding of the material, students perform poorly on graded assignments, quizzes, and tests. Drowsiness effects how well students perform in class, and

Should schools start later in the day? Yes, I think schools should start later in the day because students would be more prepared for school and would be more awake to do school work in class such as projects, class work, etc. a lot of students are not morning people. When students get up at 6:30 they get all their stuff ready for school for example regular students brush teeth, grab a shower, and after they're done with that they off to school grumpy because I don't think that 8 hours is enough sleep for kids that have to go to school in the morning.

Schools that start before 8 a.m. are a major reason students aren’t getting adequate sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation teenagers need on average 8 ½ - 9 ½ hours of sleep a night(Schute, Nancy). Realistically students rarely get that much sleep. When students don’t get adequate sleep it has the ability to affect their attention span, memory, problem-solving ability, and mood(Rosenberg, Russell). Are these students actually expected to pay attention, learn, solve problems, and have an acceptable attitude when they wake up sleep deprived? With a sleep cycle that changes once students hit puberty and an increase in the production of melatonin its nearly impossible for teens to fall asleep before 10:30 p.m.(Edwards, Finley). In my own experience I don’t even get tired until around 11:30 p.m. and barely fall asleep before 12, so it makes it extremely difficult to wake up at 6 a.m. and get ready for the day.

Education is an important aspect of any adolescents’ life. High school prepares adolescents for adulthood and provides them with prime information. The most obvious drawback to the typical high school system is how early in the morning it begins. Adolescents are “programmed” in a sense that their bodies begin to produce the melatonin needed for sleep at a much later time than younger children or adults. Without a sufficient amount of sleep, the human brain suffers cognition and memory issues. This is not an ideal prerequisite for learning. Teenagers have growing responsibilities and insufficient amounts of sleep can greatly hinder performance. High schools should consider

With class starting at 8:30 AM, extracurricular activities extending well past 8 PM, students working in after school jobs, trying to keep up on the constant demand of homework: high school students put getting a solid eight hours of sleep or even a quick power nap, at the bottom of their to-do lists. "Over-packed schedules and 12-hour days are draining already sleep-deprived teenagers. In high schools where most students go onto college, the pressure to excel inside and outside of the classroom leaves students with little time to relax." ("Power Napping," 1996). Lack of sleep is accepted as a part of high school. We've all seen our classmates fall asleep during a history lecture or video. The problem is that students are forced to stay up most of the night finishing projects and papers or studying for their tests the next day. Some argue that if teenagers would manage their time better, they could sleep enough at night, but with the competitiveness of students and the many activities they are involved in, they don't have a lot of time left.Sleep loss can take a devastating toll on the mind and body at any stage of life, from early childhood to older adulthood. But for teenagers, who are at a critical stage of development, skipping out on sleep can be particularly dangerous.In the teen years, when development continues the sleep deprivation effects of brain and body development are significant. Naps in school are usually frowned upon, but it

Did you know that school starting early has major effects on student’s health, grades and attitude to learning? Over 1000 students fail their GCSE’s due to stress. Scientists have claimed that starting school at 10:00 has proved to have a huge benefit on the well-being of students. Causing them to achieve higher grades and strive to put more effort into their class work and learning. Not only this but it has also improved their mental health, physical health and their focus towards school. Teenagers have a later body clock than adults which means that adults find it easier to get up early.

There are many different stages of a person's life. A very important stage is your basic education. However, In most school systems students are given a specific schedule. Students wake up early in the mornings and often start their classes tired. Although it may allow students to get more sleep, classes should not start later in the day.