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

Have you ever wondered about the effects that would be brought if school started later? At the moment, school clearly begins too early. This is a problem that is unquestionably bringing negative affects to many students. Many schools throughout the country are addressing this problem by considering school schedule changes including later start times for middle and high schools. Research indicates there are unfavorable effects to current school schedules, as well as well as positive effects to delayed start times. To best meet the needs of teens, school should start later.

If we were to start school later, academic GPA’s (grade point averages) would definately increase. Isn’t this what we want in our school? It is proven that the more sleep you get, the more awake and alert you actually are. I interviewed Michael Claffey, a sophomore at Newington High School, he stated “ Goooooud.” Also Jorge Premto a sophomore at Newington High School stated “Yes Michael, yes I do believe school should start at nine o’clock am. This will thus help further my education because I will be well rested.” In all, we need school to start later because it will help us with our education.

To begin, starting school later can improve students’ health and safety. The CDC urges people to schools to start later, and they have solid reasons for it. Researchers from Minnesota University analyzed over 9000 high school students and discovered that altering the original start time to a later one improved attendance, test scores, grades in math, social studies, and English, and decreased tardiness, drug abuse, and depression. Sadly, over 75% of schools in over 40 states start before 8:30. Without a doubt, later start times have obvious benefits

One reason should start later is it helps you get better grades and be more alert. “Schools that have pushed start times to 8am, or later have seen promising results. Students are more alert and there are fewer incidents of tardiness.”(20) says Justin O’Neill, author of “Should School Start Later?”. Also, if school started later we would get more sleep.

First, schools should not start later because transportation would be an issue. Some parents may have trouble getting their kids to school because of their work schedule. For example, Liz Szabo, from USA Today, she quoted Daniel Domenech, in her article “Study: Most teens start school too early in morning to get enough sleep” states, "It's a logistical nightmare," said Daniel Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association., who said that school districts have to consider the cost of school buses, as well as traffic...” This is significant because most school districts have at least one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school that would need busses to take them to and from school. Parents would not benefit if school started later because parents would now have to worry about being late to

If school start time is changed to earlier students would have to get up earlier. According to Kalish, in The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade, students have trouble falling asleep because their “body clocks are set to a schedule that is different from that of younger children or adults.” Lisa Rodvien, who teaches at Anne Arundel county,Md. says her “attendance at her first-period classes was “as low as fifty percent or below.”” Students would also have to stay at school longer causing

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

In the article “What Is the Advantage of Having School Start Early?” it states,”Sports needing to practice outdoors have more daylight, and students walking home from these activities can take advantage of the extra daylight for their safety. [...] High school students also have more time for after-school jobs.” (Anderson 6). Not only will later start time for schools affect practices, but also actual games.

There has always been a controversy as to if the school day should start later on in the morning or not. The University of Minnesota study shows that schools who have already changed the beginning of the school day to later have found that only a third of students actually received eight or more hours of sleep while the students who received less than eight hours reported to have more symptoms of depression, higher counts of caffeine, and substance abuse with alcohol and drugs. In “Should the School Day Start Later?” written by Michael Gonchar, Gonchar writes that, “New evidence suggests that a later start to the school day could have all sorts of benefits…” Some of those benefits could include the decrease of tardiness, increase in attendance, test scores and everyday grades, more positive mental health, and even car crash rates. All in all the research and studies over if the school day should start later has been in discussion for years.

“They say the early bird catches the worm but for teens in high school, it would be better to catch some shut-eye.” – Nike Kennedy. Waking up early is pretty bad in itself but waking up early then having to sit and listen to someone talk for several hours is even worse. Starting school later would allow for the student to stay awake, and not make teachers feel foolish when their students have their head down falling asleep. School should start later because of the many benefits it would provide for the students and faculty.

I don’t think I can name one person who likes getting up early and going to school. In my opinion, I think school should definitely start later. Research has proven that starting school later has improved children’s grades, health, and attitude.

Pushing school back would only make it worse. If school doesn't start until 9a.m, kids are gonna stay up later. They also would have to start their homework later, which means they won't get to bed until later. So pushing back the start time would be very bad for students. Changing the school time would also make it inconvenient for parents.

In discussions of whether or not schools should start later, one controversial issue has been that it gets in the way of parents work schedules. People who believe that it’s too much of an inconvenience claim that it’s never too soon to start getting used to an early schedule. On the other hand, those who believe schools should start later assert that it’s much better for a student's concentration and overall health. My own view is there are more benefits than negatives and we should really start to consider such a change.

We live in an age when many growing adolescents are constantly fighting their natural body clocks. It could potentially be one of the biggest issues facing our high school systems. Many school’s across America have started to push back their school start times. Is it worth it? The answer is yes. School should start later in order to unlock our nation’s high school potential.