Starting School At Later Times

According to a study done in North Carolina schools that start as little as an hour later can cause standardized test scores to go up by as much as 2 percent (Educationnext.org).Two percent may not seem like a lot but it can be the difference between a C or a B on a standardized test. Earlier start times also can cause students to get less sleep which can cause students to perform worse. If students were able to get more sleep they may perform better and actually enjoy going to school and getting good grades while still getting a decent amount of sleep.

The school day should start later in order improve students’ mental health. Survey results have consistently indicated that middle level and high school students who start school at 7:15 a.m. or earlier obtain less total sleep on school nights due to earlier rise times in comparison to students at later-starting schools. () This is just the beginning of the negative impacts that early start times have on students. By starting school at a later time, students’ brains will function better, their grades and learning increases, and will be more mentally stable.

Almost 10% of U.S. high schools start before 7:30 a.m. Over 20% of middle schools start class at 7:45 a.m. or earlier. This is leaving students everywhere overwhelmed and tired. This can lead to tremendous effects on their health and grades. Research shows that only do later start times improve those things, but ends up increasing the school's yearly income in the long run. For these reasons, schools should make their hours later because it can affect students grades and health in a positive way.

Teenagers need more sleep. If schools start school later, students would be less tired. A study of eight schools in Minnesota started school 1 hour later and grades and morale went up and tardiness went down. It has been scientifically proven in a test they did in Minnesota that 8 schools stated later and most of the students grades went up they were happier and everyone seemed more

Typically, people enjoy receiving an extra hour of sleep, even an extra five minutes of sleep. Teens are just one group of people who enjoy sleep. Unfortunately, teens are unable to obtain the correct number of hours per night. Later school start times would be beneficial because the schools would see an impact on attendance, increased school performance, and based on several studies, students would receive the recommended amount of sleep. The psychological effects would greatly outweigh the negative effects caused by an early start time. Benefits of a later start time include, better health, improved grades and teens reaching the recommended amount of sleep per night. Downfalls of starting school later would be transportation issues, coddling

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.

If we start school later then kids test scores will increase, they wont fall asleep in class and they would get the appropriate amount of sleep. According to upfrontmagazine.com, nNew research suggests that later high school starts have widespread benefits. Sleep experts at the university of Mminnesota studied eight high schools before and after the moved to later start times. They found that the later start time, the better off students were on measures like mental health, car crash rates, attendance, and in some schools, grades and standerized test scores. This is an accurate example because it comes from sleep experts at the university of minnesota that have actually studied this topic. With later starting time you’ll have more time to sleep and will be able to pay attention in class so you can get that good grade.

High school students should have a later starting time in school due to students not getting the amount of sleep they need to function. Students that stay up late at night are way too tired to learn when they get to school early in the morning. Most students who do stay up late are unable to sleep due to melatonin not yet being produced. This shows that starting school at a later time would have many positive benefits. These benefits include higher test scores, increased attendance, more participation from students, and higher performance from athletes.

To begin, starting school later can improve students’ health and safety. The CDC urges people to schools to start later, and they have solid reasons for it. Researchers from Minnesota University analyzed over 9000 high school students and discovered that altering the original start time to a later one improved attendance, test scores, grades in math, social studies, and English, and decreased tardiness, drug abuse, and depression. Sadly, over 75% of schools in over 40 states start before 8:30. Without a doubt, later start times have obvious benefits

There has always been a controversy as to if the school day should start later on in the morning or not. The University of Minnesota study shows that schools who have already changed the beginning of the school day to later have found that only a third of students actually received eight or more hours of sleep while the students who received less than eight hours reported to have more symptoms of depression, higher counts of caffeine, and substance abuse with alcohol and drugs. In “Should the School Day Start Later?” written by Michael Gonchar, Gonchar writes that, “New evidence suggests that a later start to the school day could have all sorts of benefits…” Some of those benefits could include the decrease of tardiness, increase in attendance, test scores and everyday grades, more positive mental health, and even car crash rates. All in all the research and studies over if the school day should start later has been in discussion for years.

Students hate getting up so early for school. Right? Teenagers on average need at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night. A two thousand twelve study shows that students who start school an hour later than usual saw their math scores on standardized tests increase an average of 2.2 percent. When students are able to get the sleep they need, they are able to get up and make it to school on time. Also when students get the sleep needed, they not only are able to make it to school on time but it gives them the sleep they need to be able to function which improves academically. High School start times should start later because it allows more sleep for teenagers, increases attendance and improves academically.

According to Sarah Mckibben in her article “Wake Up Call”, “A study at the US Air Force Academy, showed first year students starting class after 8 a.m. performed better not only in their first classes but throughout the day.” This proves that school starting later helps kids earn better grades. This also is helpful to the teachers in a way that the students are learning the things they should be. If school started later than the kids would be awake when they were learning the topics.

Secondly, school starting at a later time is beneficial academically. Most teens don’t get enough sleep which causes them to feel sleep deprived and stressed for school. Teens usually get six to seven hours of sleep but Dr. Cora Breuner says, “ We truly believe that our teenagers are getting six to seven hours of sleep a night, and they need eight to 10 (Shute).” This causes teens exhausted for the school and not mentally or physically prepared for each class in school. However, teens who get more sleep do better academically, with better standardized scores and a better quality living style (Shute). For example through one studies, showing the delay by an hour in start time, increases standardized test scores by roughly 3 percentile points (Edwards). So academically it is beneficial for the kids in school.

The national sleep epidemic that has taken the world by storm is also taking a toll in not only teen’s health but also their performance in school as well as personal safety. The sleep deprivation that teens are experiencing everyday has caused many health problems as well as academic problems. I believe starting school later will hinder this ever growing teen sleep deprivation problem we face today. Letting teens sleep later is beneficial to their learning capacity as their heightened alertness improved their classroom performance as well as better memory and many other crucial achievements. So probably starting school later, but no later than eight thirty am, will lead students to perform better in school and their health will improve drastically.

It has been proven that schools that start later tend to have an increase of students who receive naturally higher standardized test scores, obtain higher grades, and earn higher grade point averages (GPAs). This is because later start times cause kids to be more alert and active during the day due to the body being well rested, which is improving their cognitive function. This is essential to learning (“California Academy” 8). According to California Academy of Sciences, “Students with symptoms of sleep disorders are more likely to receive poor grades in classes such as math, reading, and writing than peers without symptoms of sleep disorders.” As previously mentioned, adolescents who do not acquire much sleep might develop a form of sleep disorders, and it may hurt their academic performance. What is more, memory is also drastically impacted by how well rested one’s body is. It is imperative that the brain gets enough sleep, so it can process the day’s events and retain your memories. Web MD reads, “... sleep enhances memory, … helping them (students) to last for the long term (life).” It is believed that if a person has a good memory he/she is essentially “smarter” and can easily recall facts or concepts learned. There is a correlation between good memory and good academic performance (“California Academy” 10). People who do well in school tend to have good memories. Overall, many studies exhibit the impact of later school start times on academic performance, and they undoubtedly show that their students will have superior overall class grades, test scores, and