The History Of School Start Times

Despite the overwhelming evidence given by current research, many people refuse to change school start times because of the lack of noticeable impact some schools had or the impact it had on some people’s schedules. Pannoni cites a statement by the Iowa City Community School District which found that “the later start time . . . [did] not reduce the number of tardy students by any appreciable amount.” The principal of Ballard High School agreed by saying that he “would be surprised to see large improvements in either attendance or grade data compared with past years” (Pannoni). Many schools refused to change because of how the later start and dismissal times would affect extracurricular activities and students with jobs. This change would also interfere with bus schedules and childcare habits. However, these seem like small problems that can be overcome when the results are that “later school start times were associated with students sleeping longer at night, less tardiness, having higher test scores, being less depressed, using less caffeine and other drugs, . . . and experiencing fewer morning car crashes” (Fenwick).

Everyone has always hated getting up super early to go to school. As children get older they move to different schools, from elementary to middle to high school, and the start times get earlier. In elementary school it was never a problem getting up but getting older, it always got harder to get up and the days were always longer. Schools start so early in the morning that it is hard to focus and students tend to miss more of their earlier classes and attend all of their later classes. Schools everywhere should start later because it would benefit the students and teachers.

Opponents of a later high school start time argue that teenagers won’t really get more sleep, they’ll just stay up later instead.  Students have activities and homework after school, and the later start time would just push it later into the night.  In “Controversy Over School Start Times,” journalist Laura VanDemark, a staff writer for Mainstream said that a survey from the April 15, 2013 meeting of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association general assembly showed that, “only 43% of students believed that a later start time would allow them to get more sleep”(VanDemark).  To elaborate, if less than half of the students thought they wouldn’t get more sleep with a later start time, then they probably wouldn’t in reality either. Though it is a valid point, students’ internal clocks, or their

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

Across America school starts on average, at eight o’clock in the morning. When walking through school hallways full of kids on a typical school morning, one may see sleep deprived and tired students not looking forward to their early morning classes, waiting for the bell to ring to signal them to go to class. Students brains are not at their full potential at eight o’clock in the morning because the brain is not yet fully awake. Starting school at eight o’clock is too early for students’ minds. David A. Sousa confirms, “Teenagers are not getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation affects their ability to store information, increases irritability, and leads to fatigue, which can cause accidents” (Sousa 117). Starting school

Opinions about schools starting time differ all over the United States. Many districts around the United States are trying to start a movement to have school start later than they usually do. 70 districts across the nation are going to start at 8:45. If this happens, it can change the schedules of a big amount of students tremendously. In the article on Newsela, facts are stated about how lots of schools use scientists advice for when they should start school. Based on the article titled, ¨More zzz’s can lead to more A’s: Seattle Schools Move Start Time for Teens¨, one believes that Beaumont High School should not change the start time to begin class later due to transportation,sports’ schedules, and the late dismissal.

.firstly, If school were to start later in the morning, students wouldn’t have time to get as much sleep as they need. Students would go to school earlier and that means they would get out later, and with

National pediatricians say that making middle school and high school students start class before 8:30 a.m. threatens their health, safety, and academic performance. It is important because these teens are not getting the recommended amount of sleep each night. If school start times for teens were later, standardized test scores would be higher and more teens would graduate.

You're in bed, feeling serene, having the perfect nights' sleep of your life. You wish it could go on eternally. Suddenly ''BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!", your alarm clock goes off and you comprehend that it's time for school, sound familiar? The subject of start times of school has been a very popular topic.  As many people already know, sleep is an exceedingly significant habit. As stated in the previous newscast, "Sleep physical, emotional, and mental health." Furthermore, students struggle with this habit.

In sixth grade there are plenty of 10-12 year olds who don't get enough sleep. If you are 10-12 years old you need 10 or eleven hours of sleep each night. Having an early school start time means that those people at that age will need to go to bed at 6:30 to 7:30 if they want to wake up at 5:30. Kids at our school are most defiantly not going to bed at 6:30; most people have church, sports, just out of school activities that are usually in the afternoon, some running all the way to 8:30, even 9:00. Because kids aren't getting enough sleep they have harder times controlling emotions and focusing. Someone not being able to function correctly is a big problem. Students can have cognition problems; not being able to focus, make decisions, bad memory, late reactions and hardly any creativity. All of those things are needed for school, but it can be prevented. All we need to do is get a later start time to school for a healthier diet and a healthier student.

Getting an education is the key to success in today's society. Going to school is something that most people between the ages of four and eighteen do. School as a whole is not an issue, but its start time is. This early start time can be to blame for many issues surrounding teens today. The discussion for later school start times has been happening for many years, it’s a highly controversial topic and the country is split on the issue.

In the article “Should School Start Later?” by Justin O’Neill, he states in his article, “...starting school later means dismissing school later, which leaves fewer daylight hours for after school activities like sports. It could also cut into family dinner.” (21). What Peters is trying to explain is that if the schools start one later, they would add another later at the end of the day.

87% of high school students get less than the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep (Richter). Over the past few years, the amount of time students spend on homework has gone up , some up to 4 hours on it. While the recommended amount is still at 2. While taking away homework could be a possibility, students can still get benefits out of doing it. What many sleep experts recommend doing, is starting school later. Some of the advantages of later school starting times are that teens get more sleep, perform better academically, and are mentally healthier.

The start times of public middle and high schools in America range from 7 am to 9 am, with the majority average beginning at 8 am each morning. In my opinion, early school times have caused adolescents waking up too early for school every day and negatively impact their sleep health. Therefore, early school start times can lead to a decrease in school performance.

Have you ever wanted more time? Have you ever wanted to go to your lockers after every class? Have you ever forgotten anything because you don't have enough time in class? THen you agree with us to change th 8th grade schedule to match it with the rest of FCHS. Think about all the things that would be better, there will be no more sore ankles, more time in class to learn, best of all lockers after every class. The 8th grade schedule will not prepare us for the later years in high school, because we can't go to lockers after every other class. We don't have a lot of time between classes and walking a lot. Finally we don't have enough time in class.