Why 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.

fatigue overwhelms you the whole day. Now imagine that you slept this was every night. Accomplishing simple tasks would be difficult if one is sleep deprived. Performing at your potential would almost be impossible. In order to get rid of these unforgettable feeling many people would sleep late and go to bed early. But with such early start times for high school many students feel sleep deprived and do not achieve their best. Doing so would improve students health. Some individuals feel that keeping the start times at their current time would be best for parents and school districts. However, many people believe that delaying school start times would positively

A vast majority of middle and high school students are sleep deprived. High school students wake up at 6 or 6:30 a.m. every weekday, go to school until 3 p.m. or later. Then some have sports, a job, and other important activities. There has been much debate over whether or not schools should start later or not.

As the sun is barely rising Victoria is already on the school bus going to Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson Arizona. Finally, by the time third period is practically over she begins to wake up and feel ready to learn, but the school day is already halfway at an end. Seventy percent of teens aren’t getting enough sleep and this could be contributing to why they can’t focus or retain information in their first classes like Victoria (O’Neill 1). Whether or not school should start later to fix this problem has become a large debate in today’s society. Later start times are beneficial for adolescents because it will decrease rates of sleep deprivation and fit their biological rhythm, as well as bring importance to the issue, even though

However there was a positive correlation with success and sleep (Suskind). Homework can get in the way of activities that lead to better success. If the homework load is lessened, kids can have more time to sleep, which is very important to a child’s and teenager's development. Many health issues occur when students do not get enough sleep. The Medical Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School published a research article that states a lack of sleep aids in the development of diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.(Sleep and Disease Risk)The article shows that students need sleep, and with the balancing of school, activities, and home it cuts into time for sleep. With the sleep deprivation and a large workload students are very prone to health issues and stress.

“Over 90 percent of American high school students are chronically sleep-deprived”, according to Carolyn Gregoire at Huffington Post. Students in their teens need 9 hours of sleep, and only 9% of students in this age range meet this requirement. Students who have later school start times report being less stressed and more focused. When schools start later, more sleep is allowed and students are less sleep deprived and can focus on the task at hand.

High school is a very stressful time in a teenager’s life. The homework is piled on, projects are assigned practically every week, and the constant pressure of the outside world’s expectations are weighing on your shoulders. If you are one of the lucky ones and have had your life planned out since birth, and you will not know of the continuous perusal that goes into deciding what, you as an individual, are going to do with the rest of your life. It is an overwhelming process. The amount of attention that is given to these thoughts that are running through students minds is insurmountable. And the lack of sleep has a negative outcome on the child’s attention in school. Middle and high school should start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., says the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) in a position statement. Doctors say that starting school earlier in the morning prevents children and teenagers from getting a full night’s sleep, which can affect their health, safety and academic performance.

Most high school students go to sleep later than 12 AM due to homework, and they wake up early as 5:30 AM to study for a test. According to the National Institute of Health, 90 percent of American high school students are sleep deprived. It also reveals some shocking news that a whopping 20 percent are getting by on less than five hours per night. Students need homework, but they also need the right amount of time to finish it and get an adequate amount of sleep. Schools should start after 8:30 AM so that students can get the right amount of sleep they need.

School start times may be as early as 7:30 am in some school districts, which is having students wake up at the brink of dawn. From a biological perspective, adolescents experience a phenomenon referred to as “phase-delay” which causes them to fall asleep later and wake up later (Peds). One of the explanations for this effect involve the delayed time of melatonin being secreted in adolescents, physically having an effect on their sleep cycles. The second explanation of why “phase-delay” occurs is that due a consistent lack of sleep that adolescents endure, the brain is wired to stay up longer after being awake for a long period of time. This lack of sleep that adolescents face may also stem from the environmental factors such as homework, extracurricular activities, and afterschool jobs (Peds). Students are flooded with masses of activities which may inhibit them from getting sleep on a school day because they come home late and begin their mountains of homework throughout the night. High school students on an average tend to do about 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours, maybe more depending on whether the class is an honors or advanced placement (http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedl-letter/v20n02/homework.html). At the end of the day, the hours add up with all the things a student needs to finish in a day, leaving them no time for the sleep needed to get them through the next day.

School start times are beginning to get overlooked by many schools and sleep researchers. In fact, the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America poll, reported that eighty percent of their respondents said high schools should start no earlier than 8:00 A.M. each day (“School Start Times and Sleep”). The American Academy of Pediatrics have also recommended that schools should start no earlier than 8:30 A.M., that way teenagers are given more sleep time. “Sleepy students can suffer from poor grades” ("Results are in: School starts too early, autism screening, PTSD and more"). During puberty the time teenagers are able to fall asleep gets later. In females this continues until around nineteen and a half and in males it lasts until around the age of twenty-one (Source). This is also a reason why some schools are trying to push back their start times. However, pushing them back can interfere with after school activities and other

In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement saying, “Middle and high schools should aim for a start time no earlier than 8:30 a.m.”(Thompson). Getting at least 8 hours of sleep is essential to the health, safety and academic success of teenage students, but less than 18% of public middle and high schools start at or after 8:30 in the morning. Studies show that having adolescents wake up early goes against their biology. The circadian rhythm, or body clock, of the teenager is naturally delayed. As a result of this teenagers’ bodies want them to go to sleep later than adults and consequently get up later.

Students that are allowed more time and preparation in the mornings would be more likely to properly attend classes and on time. When school times get pushed to later times students are less likely to be absent or tardy to their morning classes. Adolescents, especially High School students have trouble falling asleep before 11:30 P.M. or 12 A.M. School age children should get 9-10 hours of sleep (Mayo 1). Nine to ten hours is a lot of sleep to receive. The younger an individual is the more sleep their body requires in order to perform at an efficient level. According to schoolstarttime.org, sleep experts urge a delay in morning classes until 8:30 a.m., or

Dropouts, suicide, depression, and pressure have become more common since mid-2000. Starting school later will help students get out of all those dangers. National Sleep Foundation (NSP) recommends that students should sleep at least 9 hours a day. But due to having to wake up early on weekdays, they get less sleep than their body needs. It is natural for a teen to go to bed later in the night, and wake up later in the morning (School Start Time and Sleep). As schools start earlier and earlier the past years, many students who ride the bus to school are usually late for their bus. Several studies show that most high school students are at a disadvantaged group of sleep due to extracurricular activities, work, homework, social life, family, and school starting early. An average teen needs eight to ten hours of siesta daily; however, most high schoolers only get about seven or fewer hours of sleep. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that high schoolers and middle schoolers should start school after 8:30 AM at least (Walker).

The time we start school is very unhealthy for teens in high school the average kid goes to bed around 11 PM and wakes up around six that’s seven hours of sleep “those who slept eight hours or more or less likely to show signs of depression which includes anxiety hopelessness loss of interest mood swings sadness and insomnia” what this means is if kids even got one more hour he’ll be more rested and be more engaged in class. Supporting fact or quote: If kids are tired at 11 pm or after and they have to be at school before 7:30 they end up with sleep disorders. "Many teens would do fine if they could go to bed late and sleep late in the morning," said Dr. Ronald Chervin, neurologist, and director of the U-M Sleep Disorders Center. "But they can be late to school or become chronically sleep-deprived when classes start early every

For decades Students and even our own parents complain about how high school students have to wake up so early to go to school. According to Dr. Marcel Decary says that he sees a lot of teenargers who are tired and have problems in school from waking up early. High school student’s should start classes at 8:15 am. The American Academy of Pediatrics says, “the first bell should ring at 8:30 a.m or later, which is the case at only 15 percent of united states high schools right now’’. Students are sleeping thru out all their classes and missing out from some very important information. High schools students who start school at 8:15 pm most likely tend to get better grades. High school student’s should start classes at 8:15 am and, parents should know starting school early effects the academic ability, education, health, and safety of students.