Later Starting School

This article by the National Sleep Foundation describes how adolescents today are not getting the recommended amount of sleep and in return do not perform appropriately or at their maximum level at school. Through different scientific studies it was discovered that adolescent NATURALLY fall asleep at 11 P.M. or later. One study looked at the melatonin secretion in patients and how it occurred later at night in adolescents. Through research the National Sleep Foundation has urged schools to synchronize school clock with student body clocks (If teens naturally fall asleep at 11 P.M. and require 9.5 hours of sleep, school should start approximately at 9:00-10:00 A.M., 1 to 3 hours after current SC school start times). This sources supports my claim to start school later and provides support research about the negative aspects of sleep deprivation in adolescents and the importance of reforming school start times

Across America school starts on average, at eight o’clock in the morning. When walking through school hallways full of kids on a typical school morning, one may see sleep deprived and tired students not looking forward to their early morning classes, waiting for the bell to ring to signal them to go to class. Students brains are not at their full potential at eight o’clock in the morning because the brain is not yet fully awake. Starting school at eight o’clock is too early for students’ minds. David A. Sousa confirms, “Teenagers are not getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation affects their ability to store information, increases irritability, and leads to fatigue, which can cause accidents” (Sousa 117). Starting school

What if you weren’t so tired in school? Imagine feeling energized like you just drank a gallon of coffee and refreshed in school, ready to learn with your classmates all around you, happily talking about class and catching up with each other. School could be so much better. Therefore, the question is-- should schools have later starting times? In “Should School Start Later?”

There are many learning benefits when students start school later. The research, conducted by a sleep expert with Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, R.I., found that a delay in school start time of only 30 minutes was associated with significant improvements in adolescent alertness, mood and health( 1 ). The more sleep we get we can learn more and it would be better. The more

Many high school students wander into school each day shuffling around and trying not to pass out in their classes. In order to cut back on sleep-deprived teens, we must follow through with this solution; it would give students enough time to go to bed early and wake up at an appropriate time. According to Sleep Foundation, teenagers require eight to ten hours of sleep and are not getting that with the current schedule. Many teenagers have discombobulated biological clocks and need the opportunity to adjust their sleeping schedule as they see fit. If this plan were to be put into practice, more positive attitudes would emerge from schools all over America due to their fulfilled need of sleep, which would give teachers, students, principals, counselors, and even parents a more productive start to each day. On the other hand, I realize that the opposing side of this intelligent solution may proclaim that some teenagers would abuse this and go to bed even later, but people must also realize that a large amount of teenagers who wish to succeed academically would gladly not abuse this and respect this privilege; although there would be some teenagers to mistreat this, it is up to the maturity level of the student, and they choose whether they want to succeed or

Before some teens leave home, they are already facing other struggles. Disadvantaged students often suffer academically because of early start time, with counteractive social effects (“Early school start benefits disadvantage kids” 2). In the morning, while students are still lethargic, they are forced to attend classes, when they still don’t have full cognitive functions (Wolfson and Carskadon 12). Later on, after school has ended, extracurriculars start. Grogginess decreases performance in physical activities such as sports, then, as a result, practice becomes ineffective (“Backgrounder: Later school start Times” 1). What does this lead to? Poor attendance, lowered GPAs, and lost scholarships. A survey of Factors Influencing High School Start times confirmed this, “These studies (Baroni et al., 2004; Wahlstrom, 2002a, 2002b) indicate that delayed sleep schedules and early school start times are associated with daytime sleepiness, dozing in class, attention difficulties, and poorer academic performance” (Wolfson and Carskadon 4). This means that in the current situation that most teenagers are in, they are left to make the decision between being well-rested, or participating fully in school. Many choose the latter. However, if schools started later in the day, it could only benefit students’ educations. After delaying school start time, schools reported that

With early school start times, students tend not to have enough sleep. National Sleep Foundation and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend an eight to ten-hour sleep, which is sufficient. However, 69 percent of the students in the United States sleep less than eight hours per night, which is insufficient. It affects students negatively through health, behaviors, and grades. The lack of sleep promotes students to become sleepy, defenseless, and lead to the inability to concentrate, which may cause injuries and lack of knowledge in school. This dilemma has been around for years and years in the United States. Schools should start later to avoid this dilemma because it provides students with more time to sleep and an efficient work-and-rest

When students do receive enough sleep they have enhanced performance physically, mentally and academically. A study from the NSF (national sleep foundation) found that students who had a school day starting 1 hour later

You're in bed, feeling serene, having the perfect nights' sleep of your life. You wish it could go on eternally. Suddenly ''BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!", your alarm clock goes off and you comprehend that it's time for school, sound familiar? The subject of start times of school has been a very popular topic.  As many people already know, sleep is an exceedingly significant habit. As stated in the previous newscast, "Sleep physical, emotional, and mental health." Furthermore, students struggle with this habit.

Most teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Anyone who wants to succeed at what they are do must have the right amount of sleep. Unfortunately, many teens do not get enough sleep. Therefore, school should start later for teenagers. Heath professionals and sleep researchers have stated that starting school early is harming children in many ways. Lack of sleep can cause major heart diseases, diabetes and much more. Many studies show that sleeping less than 5 hours a night increases the risk of death from all causes by about 15 percent. When implemented, the solution would benefit the students and teachers. Both the students and teachers would be energized, and ready for their day. Continuing on, the time schedule

Sleep is a very important part of our life. The right amount of sleep is important in how productive our day turns out to be. Early school hours are causing children to not get enough sleep and making the children vulnerable to depression, anxiety, weight gain, lack of focus, and being late to school. Adolescents need between 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night. However, they are not able to get that because by the time they fall asleep at night it is past 11pm, and then they have to get up for school around 6am. The solution is to start school at a later time. Good sleep would mean that students will be more focused and productive in school.

Parents and teachers constantly tell students that they should concentrate on school and homework, but how can they do so when they cannot focus? Most of the time this lack of focus is caused by sleep deprivation which is induced by school activities and work, both of which cannot be avoided. Schools expect students to wake up early, be lectured for 8 hours, and then stay up late with sports, music, and/or homework. These tired students with large workloads have risks to their bodies and minds. Allowing schools to start later would be beneficial to students’ health, safety, and academic performance.

There is an increased tension growing throughout the country due to the conflict occurring between schools of whether or not they should have a later start time. While some may say having an earlier start to the day will allow an early finish out of school, others may argue that this may cause lack of sleep which would impact many student’s health. Many support that school should have a later start time because it would increase sleep, academic performance, and reduce the risk of traffic-related accidents.

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.

medical schools and found that there was a serious lack of formal education regarding sleep and sleep disorders” (Mindell, 1994). Now, that the issue has been arising, there have been more and more studies done over the past few years to determine the effects of school start time has on students and what the effect of pushing the time back would be.