Why High School Should Start Later Essay

In “High Schools Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens” by Michelle Trudeau and “High Schools Will Keep Starting Too Early.Here’s why.” by Dan Weissman they both have their own perspectives on life about school starting times and the problems they may bring to the students of high schools.In Michelle Trudeau’s story she says that the starting times for high schools has many students still very drowsy and tired most of the time having them nod off during school instruction.She states that in an average high school 20% of students fall asleep in class on a typical day.Therefore, in need to prevent this from happening teens need more sleep as opposed to them not getting enough sleep from either staying up late or period as some experts say.There are many ways to add additional support for teens and their sleep.

Research has shown that teenagers experience a change in the internal sleep clock so that waking up early and going to sleep early are difficult. Some people believe that high school classes should begin later in the day to better accommodate students’ natural sleep clocks. Waking up early can be a real struggle for teenagers. Most teens naturally sleep in until ten thirty or eleven on weekends. I do believe high school classes should start later because teens could sleep more naturally, it would give teenagers more time to do things in the mornings, and more sleep equals better

After reading both passages, I believe that both authors agreed to the idea of starting high schools later. In the passages "High Schools Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens "and "High School Will Keep Starting Too Early both implied the fact that teens need a lot of rest. Here's why, they both stated facts on how they believed schools should consider starting earlier. As the first author decided to use facts about why high schoolers should enter later, the second author stated the reasons why high schools could not be delayed. In the first passage the author expressed on how students stay on task more frequently and doze off less if school started later.

In the articles of “High schools starting later to help sleepy teens”, claim is that school

Over 87% of teenagers don’t get enough sleep and go to school tired. Teenagers have constant expectations to live up to, but with the amount of sleep they’re getting it can be seemingly impossible. The question has been brought up time and time again, should the school day start later? Because of the risks of not getting enough sleep, trying to keep up with their their busy schedules, and being in their adolescent years, having the school day start later would help teenagers around the world immensely.

Have you ever been really tired when you wake up for school in the morning? Sleep is very important to all teens, or it should be. Young adults should have 8.5-9.25 hours of sleep every night, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), in Sarah McKibben’s article “Wake Up Calls”. Unfortunately, two-thirds of teens are getting less than 7 hours of sleep each night, according to the NSF’s chart. This is causing a large number of schools and scientists to think that schools should start later in the morning. I fiercely disagree with this. Schools should not start later because starting later for high schools would cause too many negative consequences.

In the article “Pediatricians Say School Should Start Later For Teens’ Health” it states,“...... a National Sleep Foundation poll found that 59 percent of middle schoolers and 87 percent of high schoolers are getting less than the recommended 8 ½ to 9 ½ hours of sleep a night. ”(Shute 2). Many people say that school start time is affecting students’ health.

According to the article “Should School Start Later” written by Justin O’Neill, he states “nearly 70 percent of teens are not getting enough sleep.” Since students are not getting enough sleep they end up feeling tired during school. If school starts later students will have more time to get ready for school in the morning without having to wake up earlier, be able to sleep in later, and have more time to eat breakfast in the mourning. Students will also be able to have more energy at school especially in the morning. Since students are tired when they go to school “some experts are saying middle and high schools should start later so teens can sleep in” (O’Neill).

First of all, kids will be more energized and be more academically advanced if school starts are pushed back. According to, “Should School Start Later” “Studies show that well rested teens get better grades, have higher standardized test scores, and miss fewer days of school. They also have a lower risk of being in car accidents and have fewer health problems such as depression, mood changes, and being overweight.” Many schools start before 7:45 a.m. and have tired students not putting forth their best efforts while 40 percent of American High Schools start classes past 8 a.m. The schools with later starts

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.

Also, it will take away the opportunity for students to prepare themselves for early college classes in the future. As one mom states on her blog “If teens are going to school later and later, they won't train their bodies to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.  Training their bodies is something that will be useful to them in adult life,” (Grose). Some principles at school still do not believe that pushing back the school start do would be beneficial. They say it is because students only take into account school starting later and not having to stay in school for the same number of hours a day. Also, that children enjoy getting out at 2 or 3 pm because then they have time for extracurricular activities and do not have to miss school if they participate in a sport (Rasicot). People against later start times feel the problem solved could be solved instead by better teen discipline.

As children’s doctor and sleep expert Daniel Lewin stated, “The call for later school start times is an essential movement for keeping tweens and teens healthy.” Several reasons why school hours are unjust due to early start times include first, students not being able to focus as easily in class. Next, students also cannot participate to their full capability when their mind and body are not rested properly. Also, recent studies have concluded that teenagers cause more automobile accidents on their way to school, due to being sleep deprived. A negative perspective considering a later school start revolves around the idea that through history school hours have consistently ended before a specific time. This seems to support the fact that “after school

43 % of public high schools start before 8 a.m. Studies show that kids in school need 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep each night. Studies also show that 2/3 of kids in school get less than 7 hours of sleep each night. Because of all of these facts, 33% of high school students fall asleep in class. School should start later than 8 because kids still in school need more sleep than the 6-7 hours they get.

Everyone has always hated getting up super early in the morning 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 and earlier. In elementary school it was never a problem getting up but as we get older, it becomes more difficult to get up. Schools start so early in the morning that it is hard to focus and students tend to either miss more of their earlier classes or earn lower grades compared to their later classes. In addition, early start times also lead to various medical problems. Schools everywhere should start later because it would beneift the stduents.

Still, advocates [those in favor] say studies show the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. In 1996, high school