The Negative Effects Of School Later Start Times Benefiting Teens

DING! DING! That awful sound of the alarm goes off. Sound familiar? For many middle school and high school students across America this is just a typical early weekday morning. This isn’t because teens are lazy, it is because of the school start times. I think teen students’ need a later school start time for many supported reasons. Although, schools starting later means school would end later and possibly interfere with extra-curricular activities, school times should be should be pushed back to later times because students will have a better sleep pattern, students health will improve, and students will have better academic performance.

Early start times of schools are posing dangerous health results in adolescents bodies. Pushing back the start time of schools would increase students academic focus and scores on standardized tests. Schools should start later to help teens health and make school a place teens can learn at their most focused time. Everyday students are forced to get up at extremely early times to get to school on time. Imagine a student getting less than six hours sleep each night because they had to get up early after a previous night of work and then coming home to work on homework. This happens every night and the student becomes more tired each day, leading to symptoms of depression. To help prevent this from happening to young students around you, write

Research shows that teens sleep cycles are naturally delayed (Should High School Start Later, 2013). About fifteen percent of high schools start at 8:30am or later and, forty percent of schools start earlier than 8:00 am (SiOWfa, 2014). The start times of schools are reducing the amount of sleep a student is receiving on school nights. Most teens start their day at 5:30-6:30 am to prepare for school, but if their natural bedtime is 11 pm or even midnight, they are getting only 6-7 hours of sleep! Remember that teens need at least 8 hours to function properly. To fix this issue schools will have to start later.

Teenagers who start school earlier have more health problems due to lack of sleep. Some students in school work or have extracurricular activities after school therefore sleeping earlier is not an option. Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep usually turn to drug and alcohol abuse. If students got more time to sleep it would give the human brain time to function properly. Students would have more respect for teachers and assignments.

Pushing schools to a later start time can solve fixable health problems in teens. Some health problems include: depression, stress, ad mood impairments. According to California Academy Of sciences, “When students do not get enough hours of sleep due to phase Delia…can have a long term impact on students health” High Schoolers and Snooze Buttons).the lack of sleep students are getting from an early school start and than having sports, homework, etc. can cause serious harm to them. But, if school started later it

Do you think school starts too early? Well, according to recent studies, you’re right! There is lots of data that shows that teenagers aren’t getting enough sleep at night. In fact, according to data from The National Sleep Foundation says 87% of high schoolers don't the recommended amount for someone their age. With lack of sleep comes many negative consequences. If they don’t get enough sleep it can result in health problems, have negative effects on academic performance and increase reliance on drugs, alcohol, and caffeine. Let’s review the problems with schools starting later, the negative effects that sleep loss has on teens, the benefits of getting enough sleep and the setbacks of later start times for schools.

Would a later school start time help students achieve greater success and help them make the most of their day? Studies on adolescent sleep patterns prove that the answer is yes. Research shows that starting school later in the morning helps high school students have more success in school, helps high school students have better health, helps high school students make better decisions, and helps high school students be happier. It may even save high school students’ lives!

Research has shown that teenage students would benefit from later starts times at school. As evidence continues to mount that teens should start school later for multiple reasons, the better question to ask is why has not this happened since later school start times promote adolescent well-being. There are numerous areas of research that support this topic. Earlier start times deprive teenagers of much-needed sleep, which can result in poor school performance among other problems. Since starting school before the brain is even fully awake is not beneficial to the students, contrary to our current system, by starting school later high school students would have higher academic performances, fewer automobile accidents, and a lower the risk of teenagers developing depression and obesity.

“Being on time, managing a busy schedule, and getting enough sleep are important skills teens will need when they enter the workforce,” from article A shows how waking up early is a skill you will need when you're older, so you should start now. However, school day shouldn’t begin later because there are so many issues that could throw everything off, and why not stick to the same schedule we have been for years. In the articles, Should School Start Later?(A), and Teens Should Start at 10 a.m., Scientists Suggest. Is That Realistic?(C) both give evidence why later starts aren’t a good idea. School shouldn’t start early because of busy schedules, daylight hours, the school district, and money.

Starting school at a later time would improve the lives of teens not only their education but it would also help improve their health. The first reason to have later starting times is it would help students be more alert in class. I personally tend to be more attentive and alert towards the end half of first block so around 9 or 9:30. Teens who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to have lower performance in academics and athletics (Backgrounder). They are also likely to have impaired cognitive function and lower decision-making skills (Backgrounder). The next reason to start school at a later time is it can reduce health issues related to sleep deprivation. According to the doctors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine starting school

Schools should start later in the day. Teens also go through stages of sleep that should not be intervened with, and why school starting early can cause health problems. Schools should start later to improve the health and the performance of students, that are teens.

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.

"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.

Studies say that students work better at school when the time starts later than normal. Students usually don’t like to get up early for school. They are practically asleep in their first few classes of they day. Then when it comes to working on things they don’t remember what they learned. School should start later because students don’t eat, they fall asleep in class and they don’t do their homework.

According to Peterson (who?), later school start time was linked as one of the reasons for improvement in teens’ sleeping patterns. A new study finds that later school start time significantly reduces daytime sleepiness and caffeine use in adolescents. This shows that when teens sleep more there is a clear decline in sleep deprivation and mood swings.This article also states that “ It is well-known that sleep deprivation is common among teens,with potential of serious impact on mental and physical health...and early high school start times contribute to these problems’’(Peterson 1). This quote is supporting the argument that when school starts early, it generally tends to have a negative effect both physically