Why We Should Start Later

It is a well known fact that teenagers in general need more sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation: “[teenage sleep] is as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. It can even help you to eat better and manage stress of being a teen.” When schools start as early as 7 o’clock, it puts students health at risk. Adolescents already have a natural shift in their internal body clock, or circadian rhythm when it comes to sleep. Puberty allows this to happen, causing a “sleep phase delay” of about two hours. When teens can't fall asleep until late and school starts so early, they aren't getting nearly enough sleep. Lack of such, according to CDC, makes the individual

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

One of the biggest struggles for students today, is the struggle to wake up for school in the mornings, and to make it to class on time. Because of the start times that many high and middle schools currently have, students are having to get up early to get ready, therefore providing them with little sleep at night. They are faced with their everyday schedules, things that are happening in other parts of their lives, as well as having to keep up with their schoolwork. All of this results in a loss of sleep, with the added factor of having to wake up early in the mornings. Having a later start time for schools is beneficial for student’s health, safety, and their overall performance in school.

Teenagers need more sleep. If schools start school later, students would be less tired. A study of eight schools in Minnesota started school 1 hour later and grades and morale went up and tardiness went down. It has been scientifically proven in a test they did in Minnesota that 8 schools stated later and most of the students grades went up they were happier and everyone seemed more

The primary reason for attending school is for adolescents to get an education in hopes of getting a good job.  Attendance, test scores, and GPA’s all play an important role in a student’s success in school, and if they can all be improved by pushing the start time back, then this issue should be pushed further.  The root problem of students not performing to their full potential has to do with the inability to focus from drowsiness in class due to the lack of sleep they are getting.  To support this point, Carskadon, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and his team, “found that students showed up for morning classes seriously sleep-deprived and that the 7:20 a.m. start time required them to be awake during hours that ran contrary to their internal clocks” (Richmond).  In other words, Carskadon believes that current high school start times go against teens’ natural sleep patterns, making them be awake at a time where their bodies aren’t ready to get up yet.  This causes concentration issues making paying attention in class harder, and kids not getting the best grades they can.  Also, sleep won’t get any

The article Should School Stay Earlier? by elenam112 states “This means the school would be open longer, resulting in larger electrical and heating bills.” Schools would need to stay open later at night for after school activities and stay open early in the morning for students who are dropped off early. Schools may even have to purchase lights for after school activities. Schools would also have to change their bus transportation systems which are designed to run as efficiently and inexpensively as possible. The average national cost that schools need to pay for each student’s bus transportation is $459. Changing the system could result in many more

Do you hate waking up so early in the morning to get ready for school? Do you feel so drained because you’re tired? Some school districts have started school later to give students more time to sleep and because students get more sleep it has several positive effects. School districts would be for schools starting later because studies have shown students with more sleep have improved school performances, more sleep which reduces health problems, and less morning automobile accidents.

Students hate getting up so early for school. Right? Teenagers on average need at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night. A two thousand twelve study shows that students who start school an hour later than usual saw their math scores on standardized tests increase an average of 2.2 percent. When students are able to get the sleep they need, they are able to get up and make it to school on time. Also when students get the sleep needed, they not only are able to make it to school on time but it gives them the sleep they need to be able to function which improves academically. High School start times should start later because it allows more sleep for teenagers, increases attendance and improves academically.

To begin with, schools that have started later have seen better academic results. Many schools have seen improvement in standardized test scores recently due to later school start times. For example, the article “Do schools Begin Too Early” by Finley Edwards states that a school in Wake County North Carolina delayed their school start times by one hour and saw at least 2 more percentile points in standardized test scores. This means that schools that have delayed their start times have seen improved performance and grades in school. In addition, many students have came to school more due to later start times. According to Finley Edwards “Students who start school one hour later have 1.3 fewer absences than the typical student.” This means that schools which have started later have had more students come to school. Therefore, starting school later has many pros including academic results.

Many teenagers are not getting enough sleep and this is often due to early school start times. Adolescent bodies are naturally in what scientists call

Some parents may argue that having a later school start time won’t get teens any more of this precious sleep. In fact, according to NPR, only 40% of parents asked thought that their kids would get more sleep at night. But what many people seem to forget is the fact that when a child reaches puberty, their circadian rhythms (bio-clocks) shift. This unconsciously inclines them to stay up later, and wake up later. A later start time wouldn’t mean kids/teens would go to bed earlier, but it would at least give them a chance to get those hours in if they do. Dr. Judith Owens, director of Sleep MED. Clinic at the Children’s National MED. Cent. in Wash. D.C. says teens are daily asked to be fully awake, alert, and ready to learn at the time in their 24-hour bio-clock where alertness is at it’s

The debate about school start times being too early has been going on for years. However, no matter the final decision, elementary, middle, and high schools will all be affected. The fact that some students are too tired to function so early in the morning, and schools still start early is very appalling. I, personally, feel that school start times are too early. There are numerous obstacles we face in changing school start times, but together we can overcome them.Students need their sleep. When pupils are too tired to focus in class, they do poorly on tests, and this causes low academics. More sleep will allow a scholar to perform better on their exams. “It’s Not a Teens’ Fault- School Starts Too early” says, “ Evidence also… shows that students overwhelmingly perform better academically when they have adequate sleep.” So, if evidence pointed

Starting school later can reduce transportation costs by using fewer buses. The United States alone spends $17.5 billion per year on school transportation. By using beneficial bus

When you were a teenager, do you remember dosing off in class? well, how would you have liked an extra hour of sleep every morning? It has been shown through research that teenager experience a change in their internal sleep clocks, meaning that they are getting to sleep later and, in return, waking up later. I believe that the best way to combat this is to start high school classes about an hour later and have them extend later into the day. If the school day started later, students could get more sleep in the morning, causing them to feel better rested; also, attendance would improve due to a lower number of students sleeping in late; and, sleep is one of the best stress relievers which could lead to fewer problems out of kids. Let's explore the possibilities that would open up to us if we were to delay school by just one hour.

A big reason school’s may enjoy having a later start time, is because it can contribute to the school’s success. A later start time can improve the school’s overall test scores (Why We Must - and Can - Restore Safe & Healthy School Hours). Students can learn their best when they are not tired or drowsy. The School Start Later — Healthy Hours campaign stated that, “Academic improvements have been shown, and overall school climate has been measurably improved when high schools have restored later start times,” (Why We Must - and Can - Restore Safe & Healthy School Hours). The sleep researcher mentioned earlier, Wendy Troxel, said in her presentation that when kid’s are woken up by an alarm, they are literally robbed of their dreams. Dreams are associated with learning development. In order for student’s to use the most of their brains, they need to be receiving the right amount of good quality sleep. Not only do test scores rise, but so does the graduation rate, which is a major problem in today’s generation (Why We Must - and Can - Restore Safe & Healthy School Hours). In contribution to the student success, later start times could drastically improve the school’s success. Later start times have increased attendance around