Why School Should Start Later

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

According to a study done in North Carolina schools that start as little as an hour later can cause standardized test scores to go up by as much as 2 percent (Educationnext.org).Two percent may not seem like a lot but it can be the difference between a C or a B on a standardized test. Earlier start times also can cause students to get less sleep which can cause students to perform worse. If students were able to get more sleep they may perform better and actually enjoy going to school and getting good grades while still getting a decent amount of sleep.

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

Having a later school start time can increase a student’s academic grades and awareness. Thirty-three percent of teens say that they fell asleep in class. Even though this is a small portion of teens, falling asleep in class shouldn’t even happen once. Also, this means they are getting less than what they need,(eight to nine hours of sleep a night). A school needs to pack as much teaching time as they can in a day, but if that means waking up a student at a time so early, then there's no point.When a student doesn’t sleep as much, students are not aware as they would be if they had a good night’s rest. If students had this sleep, the would pay more attention in class. Therefor, a student would have better grades.

Do you wake up in the mornings to your alarm and snooze it because you are still tired and need more sleep? Many students have complained about the time you are required to get up for school. Most teens are arguing that it is healthier for them to get more sleep. In the article “Despite proven benefits, Starting School Later Remains ‘A Tough Sell’” by Tim Walker, claims that “...letting students sleep and starting school later can lead to better health and academic outcomes.”. Students should be given more time to sleep because it is good for them.

School should start later. Waking up at six in the morning to get ready for school really makes kids mad. They have to go through the rest of their day doing work when they feel tired and just want to go back to bed. But what if they didn’t have to wake up that early because school started later? Why do school start at 8 in the morning? All it does is make kids not want to be there. A lot of people say that school should start later. Later starting would mean that kids get enough sleep, they

While reading “Why School Should Start Later in the Morning” written by Emily Richmond, it is stated that, “We have to convince school systems this has to happen for the health of kids… it’s an absolute requirement.” With that being said, school board officials are not just changing the starting time to later at random, but more so to help improve students’ health all around. With not enough sleep students can become sleep deprived which can lead to many health issues. Students who do receive enough sleep will have improvement with the tendency of impulsive, on the scene decision making. Gonchar also states that “teens going through puberty have a late release of “sleep” hormone melatonin…” With the late release of the hormone melatonin, students going through the

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.

Starting school at later times makes students more likely to pay attention in class. The California Academy of Sciences says, ¨Studies have shown that middle and high school students with adequate amounts of sleep, 8-10 hours, have better test scores. ¨ Since students do not get enough sleep, it would be very beneficial to start school at later times, since they would fall asleep with the correct amount of sleep. To add on to this reason, Diana Zuckerman Ph.D. says, ¨In order to compensate for the later start time, the school cut 5-10 minutes of every class and activity. The change meant students had slightly less time in the classroom, but the tradeoff was improved attention during the school day.¨ Although starting classes at later times

In various studies, school districts that shifted from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. saw more benefits than those that shifted from 7:15 to 7:45 a.m.”-The scientific american. Many facts say like this say that school needs to be set at later times. Many studies say that sleep is the most important thing needed for sleeping, isn't it ironic that in many cases schools are responsible for decrease of sleep? Melatonin a hormone that your body releases that basically helps you stay awake, but the melatonin in your body doesn’t start to kick in until later in the morning. Thus making it harder for the kids who start school earlier to

Changing the start time allows students to gain a longer attention span and to have a better morning. When High School students are more awake, attentive, and present, their academic performances obviously benefit. When school started at 9 a.m. or later 36% of schools said their ACT/ SAT scores were increased by at least 2 points on average per student (“High School Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens”). High standardized test scores also gives the school districts more money to keep their extra-curricular programs, and when students are more attentive and awake during the day, the school can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by being a school with above average test scores. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported in April, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement “finally put a rest to the long-standing question of whether later start times correlate to increased academic performance for high-school students”: Researchers analyzed data from more than 9,000 students at eight high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming and found that shifting the school day later in the morning resulted in a boost in attendance, test scores, and grades in math, English, science, and social studies. Schools also saw a decrease in tardiness, substance abuse, and symptoms of depression. Some even had a dramatic drop in teen car crashes as well. At schools with early start times many students oversleep, causing them to be late for their early morning classes. Ultimately, this results to a higher rate of tardiness and could possibly lead to an increase in the dropout

From what is known about school, is that it has always started early in the morning besides having delays. Some teachers say that school starts too early in the morning and causes their students to fall asleep in their class. School should not start later because school would go on later in the day, it promotes kids to be lazy all the time and potential jobs in the future require you to get up early for work. More than enough people don’t like school early in the morning, but imagine it going until late in the afternoon. Most high schools start around 7:00-8:00 A.M. depending on where they live.

I know from personal experience that when I sleep more I do better in my classes. I can also say that I do better at paying attention in my afternoon classes than I do in my morning classes. This is because students are awake by their afternoon classes but if school started later then students would not be dragging in the morning. Many students say that they would benefit from the later start but also say that they are worried about not being able to have enough time after school for sports, homework, a job and dinner. Going to school later is a good option but some people beg to differ.

For example, schools who delay the start times by as little as 30 minutes have noticed “lower dropout rates, improvements in standardized reading and math scores, lower rates of depression symptoms, and lower rates of car crashes” (Boergers, Gable, and Owens 12). This quote from the article “Later School Start Time is Associated with Improved Sleep and Daytime Functioning in Adolescents” clearly proves that students are able to function more efficiently when they receive more sleep. By delaying school start times, not only are students more awake during school hours, but less vehicle crashes on the way to and from their academic classes are recorded. Students are also less likely to drop-out because less students are failing due to being too exhausted to complete the given assignments. In addition to these points, most school testing is taken in the morning or early afternoon, forcing students to wake up early in order to take their test. It makes more sense to delay the start times of the testing and allow the students to fully wake up before starting to ensure they perform well on the test. Almost every school exhorts their students to study and prepare wisely for their exams, but by giving assignments that leave the students up late at night and forcing them to wake up in the morning to attend class, makes it difficult for the

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