Why School Should Start Later Essay

Sleep deprivation is a growing problem in today’s society. It affects students who need to wake up for school in the early hours in the morning. Scientists and doctors say that schools should change their start times to later in the morning to allow students to attain the eight to ten hours of sleep needed to perform to the best of their ability with their academics as well as their athletics. Some school districts have taken this information into account, and in result changed their schools hours. While this can resolve some troubles regarding sleep deprivation in teen students, changing hours can raise other problems. In some cases, it may also not fix the problem and students will continue to stay awake into late hours of the night. This also does not allow the student to accept the consequences of staying up late. Starting school later in the morning could also affect after-school activities such as sports and clubs.

A teens biological clock doesn’t match their school schedule. Imagine trying to learn new things when your body thinks you are suppose to be asleep, making things a little more difficult than they already are. Small children feel quite energized in the morning and don’t have this problem. This is because they tend to go to bed earlier because less homework, less school activities and their biological clock allows them to. The scientists at sleepfoundation.org explain it more in depth, “Changes to this circadian rhythm occur during adolescence, when most teens experience a sleep phase delay. This shift in teens ' circadian rhythm causes them to naturally feel alert later at night, making it difficult

Their health is affected because students may not be getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep also known as sleep deprivation can include: “weight gain and eating disorders and increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes; reduced immunity; depression; anxiety; substance abuse; mood swings; behavior problems; suicidal ideation; and potential impacts on brain development” (Why). The recommended amount of sleep for growing teens in middle and high school is eight to ten hours a night (MacMillan). The recommended amount of sleep for teenagers is difficult for many teens to achieve because of how early school starts and how late they get home from school related activities the night before. For example, if a student was in basketball they could have practice from after school to five or later, or they could have a game an hour away. After their practice or game they could have a lot of homework and need to study for a test they have the next day. Students then go to sleep late, still having to get up early the next morning and go to school to take that test. The amount of sleep also has to do with the way the teen brain works. Emily Richmond says, “Adolescents’ ‘internal clocks’—the circadian rhythms that control a human’s responses to stimuli and determine sleep patterns—operate differently than those of other age groups. It’s typically more difficult for adolescents to fall asleep earlier in the

Many researches inform that sleep affects learning because people organize and absorb information during the REM (rapid-eye- movement) sleep. With an extensive amount of sleep time, students could absorb information more successfully. The effect of delay school start times on academics is obvious. In Finley Edwards’s research, the Wake County School District changed the first bell to an hour later, and this resulted in a three percent increase in both the math and reading standardized test scores. This change affects teenagers, who are most likely to begin puberty, the most. With the data given, teenagers' test grade have the most significant improvement. Also, Edwards finds out that with delayed start time, students use less time on watching television and more time on homework. Being able to sleep-in more improves students’ behaviors. Students are less likely to zone out or fall asleep in class. Absences and tardies decrease too (Edwards). This prevents students from missing information, and they would be able to learn all the knowledge they need in school. In a way, this could affect the world. With more education received, students would become more creative and view the world differently due to a tremendous amount of knowledge gained. They are the world’s future rising stars, and they are the ones that develop more solutions for global issues and improvements on the environment in the future. Students are the next generation of pillars for this country. The more information exposes to them, the brighter the future of this nation. Starting schools later means fewer tardies and absences, which can guarantee that they will absorb a massive amount of knowledge and

In the classroom, students are less sleepy in their early classes. They are more alert and ready to learn. Also, concerning the welfare of the students, there are less dropouts and students bouncing from school to school. (npr.org) When teens are less sleepy, they are able to focus on what is happening in their class. Additionally, getting more sleep helps teenagers control their emotions, making them easier to live and work with. They have less anxiety and depression problems when they are fully rested. (npr.org) When teen’s emotions are less extreme, it helps both the parents and the children. Parents do not deal with as much emotional drama, and teenagers emotional highs and lows are drastically reduced. Ultimately, when teenagers get enough sleep, everyone sees benefits inside and outside of

When students wake up with an insufficient amount of sleep they can not comprehend amounts of information as well. “Sleep is necessary to consolidate a memory (make it stick) so that it can be recalled in the future (Robinson, 1). Not being able to memorize information learned defeats the purpose of ever learning it. When a majority of the assignments require students to remember info and be able to replicate a lesson for a good grade students need to be able to remember as much as possible. If teens were allowed to sleep in more they would have a greater chance of remembering things for tests, and be able to be more active. Lack of sleep is hurting students abilities to learn and to keep in what they

Almost every day high school students are waking up around six o’clock in the morning to get ready for school, some even earlier than that. Nearly every morning students are waking up without adequate sleep. If sleep is one of the most essential needs of the body in order to grow and develop, shouldn’t we be more aware of how much it affects students everyday performance? The ways in which students are affected by sleep-deprivation is precisely why school needs to start later.

Sleep enhances students’ desire learning and, controls on their mood. In“Hard Lesson in sleep for teenagers” article, Kyla Wahlstrom conducted a study in Minnesota public schools. She noticed the students succeeded doing all their classes’ activities in a creative way when they have late classes that means the students got enough hours of sleep. Many studies proved this theory, which helps encourage students to get enough sleep. The study indicates the necessity of gaining enough amount of hours for the students. I believe the result of the study encourages students go to their bed early. Indeed, I can agree with this, after all, I have problems when I stay up late. I once stayed up all night. This affected me the next day. Especially, when

To summarize, this article gives many valid points about how teenagers lack sleep, but it also gives numerous factors from an adult's point of view. Frank Bruni states that getting enough sleep each night makes for a healthy teen and a sane teen as well. The author provides numerous times that a student should not be negotiable with sleep; sleep should be a baseline for adulthood. Another valid point Bruni makes is students are very hyped up with cell phones and other electronics, but with that statement, there are also students who are up because of the amount of homework they are given on some nights.

To begin, sleep is a huge and pivotal thing for us adolescents. Many of us already do not get the necessary amount of sleep on weekdays-- and more often than not, it is not our own faults. Lack of sleep has negative effects on teenagers academically, socially, physically, and mentally. It limits our abilities to focus and limits our body’s movement. This isn’t the only thing we get fatigue from-- homework also causes tiredness. I agree homework is necessary for kids so the things we learn in class don’t go in one ear and out the other, but with four core classes almost always giving

Almost every student strives to get an “A,” but does this have adverse effects on their health? Two preeminent sources of these effects can easily be observed when evaluating the lives of teenage students: sleep and stress. Insufficient sleep regularly leads to an excess of stress while, similarly, and excess of stress can lead to insufficient sleep. The two seemingly interwoven occurrences have both been proven to effect both physical and mental health negatively. The American Psychological Association reports, from studies done in 2013, that “teens who sleep fewer than eight hours per school night, many say their stress level has increased over the past year (42 percent), compared with 23 percent of teens who sleep at least eight hours per school night” (“Stress and Sleep”). From this statistical data, it can be inferred that stress level and amount of sleep have an impact, generally adversely.

To begin, the majority of high school students do not get sufficient sleep each night. As a result, they do not receive the necessary benefits of sleep which include learning, problem-solving skills, and other advantageous aspects in school (“Why is Sleep Important?”). According to a study done by the National Sleep Foundation, only ten percent of students ages fifteen to seventeen averaged nine or more hours of sleep each night, even though it is suggested that adolescents receive around nine and a quarter hours of sleep (“Later School Start…”). Clearly, this leaves ninety percent of students who are not reaching an adequate amount of sleep each night and therefore, not receiving the complete benefits of school. In opposition, some may argue that students can make the choice to go to bed earlier during the school year, but instead choose to stay up

Even if school starting late is good to students and they desire it , there are more negatives than positives and one small thing can affect a lot. Schools should start early as it would probably ends early too and the time for after school activities can benefit everyone. It can also help a student in the future in their jobs . Students should develop their waking up early habits when young and they won’t suffer that much in the future. Schools starts early is beneficial to everyone and people should stop complaining and look in the long term effects of school starting

In addition, mental health can go downhill if a student is not getting enough sleep, is stressed, and in continuous pattern of being in a bad mood. According to the website https://schoolstarttime.org/early-school-start-times/depression-anxiety-fatigue/ it was stated within the article that depression among adolescence is mostly caused because of sleep

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).