Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of sleep deprivation on students academic performance
Advantage of students coming to school earlier
Effects of sleep deprivation on students academic performance
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Caroline Kim
Mr. Ali
Composition 8
25 March 2015
School Starting Time
Adolescents sleep at an average of 6.8 hours a night, but need at least more than 9 hours to function properly (Jones 1). Sleep is vital to teenagers’ well-being; it can help you manage stress, assist in regaining your memory with ease, increase your stamina in athletics, improve your grades, maintain a healthy weight, and help keep a positive mind. Receiving less than the least amount of sleep required for the average adolescent can limit your ability to learn, concentrate, remember important information, cause depression or anxiety, cause acne, and lead to aggressive abnormal behavior (National Sleep Foundation 1).
Kids in their teenage years, are heavily deprived of sleep
…show more content…
As psychologist Robert Leahy points out: "The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s." Teenagers can not handle the pressure of having to get straight A’s, be the best athlete, and still be social with others. Academic work is taking away these kids lives. Receiving an indecent amount of sleep nightly is not fair because not only do teenagers have to struggle to finish all of their classwork, barely even getting sleep, they can never escape it, even on the weekends. Starting school at abnormally early hours prevent many students from getting the amount of hours per night that most teenagers need. In addition to that, kids are having to walk to the bus station or having to drive to school in the dark while sleep deprived. Drowsy driving increases along with the risk of injury while walking to the bus stop tired and unaware of your surroundings (Start School Later Inc 1). School should start at a reasonable time such as 9:00 am in order for each kid to get a decent amount of sleep per night. It is a proven fact that after schools have changed their starting time to a later hour, they have noticed the teenagers academic and athletic life improve. In this series of facts, it is proven that changing the school starting time, can increase test scores and also regulates safety,“When Jackson Hole High School in Wyoming shifted its start time to
On average, high school students receive about 3.5 hours of homework each night and elementary school students are getting about three times the amount that is recommended, which is ten minutes per grade, so 10 minutes for 1st grade and 50 minutes for 5th grade. Homework takes time to do after school and extracurriculars. If a student goes to school at 9:00 and gets out at 4:00, then goes to an after-school activity from 4:00 to 6:00, they will come home and have dinner from about 6:30 to 7:15, which means that they will probably start homework at around 7:30. This means that high school student would be up until about 11:00 finishing their homework, that’s without factoring in how much time the students will waste. This leaves students with less than the recommended 9 hours of sleep. Students that have to stay up that late for homework will be tired in the morning, even if their schools do start later.
One of the benefits of later school start times is improved student performance. In a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota, it was found that over eight hours of sleep each night boosted test scores, attendance, and overall academic achievement (Long). With a later start time, students would be able to get a better night's sleep, and would be overall more alert (Morin). If students in school are more alert, they will be able to pay more attention to teachers.
Kids and teen everywhere are rushed, stressed, and not doing as well in school because they aren't getting the right amount of sleep. About 40% of american high schools start classes before 8:00 am and more than 20% of middle schools start at 7:45 am or earlier. School start times should be later because teens need sleep and it improves their overall academic grades.
The schools that start classes before 8:00AM, the students are not getting enough sleep at night. In the passage Up For Debate: Should School Start Later It states “Many adolescents suffer from chronic sleep deprivation.” We need the schools to fix this by allowing students to get more sleep by changing the time school starts, to a more reasonable time. Therefore letting the students get the sleep they need to work exceptionally at school. Starting the school day later will also help with the amount of money the school pays for. Starting later would be most beneficial for schools around the world.
Were you aware that teens tend to have irregular sleeping patterns that can harm their body and the way it functions? When it comes to sleep, teens are inclined to stay up very late during the week and wake up very early in the morning. On the weekends, they seem to gravitate more towards waking up very late to catch up on the sleep that they missed earlier in the week. Now that you know what the causes of having irregular sleeping patterns can do to a teenager’s body, you will be able to see the positive and negative effects of what not having enough sleep can do to one’s self. These facts will be explored through the articles “Should Schools Start Later” by Justin O’Neill and “Why Schools Should Start Later in the Morning” by Emily Richmond.
Based on the article on The National Sleep Foundation, when it's time for school the average teen body still thinks it's the middle of the night.
Teens are wired to be night owls and are still required to sleep at least a whole 9 hours to be able to function properly. Studies show that a school with later arrival times is 16.5% less likely to have a car crash than a school with earlier start times. Sleep is very important in order to reduce teen car crashes. If students don’t graduate from high school then who will teach them how go through life. Later school leads to higher graduation rates.
According to Jama Network, when a high school in Rhode Island changed the school start time to 8:30 rather than 8:00, there was a 38.3% increase in getting eight or more hours of sleep every night. Grades and attendance were also among the improvements shown in students. Teachers were also showing a better amount of sleep when the schools began a later start time. (Jama Network). These improvements can help shape a student’s future. Without a change in a school’s start time, middle school and high school students tend to have poor sleep patterns and bad grades. Therefore, changing the school start times to an hour later in middle schools and high schools across the world would provide many benefits to students.
Are you hitting the snooze button every morning? You are not alone. All over the United States schools are pushing back school start times. Students have shown significant improvements in graduation and attendance rates. Students are far more productive when starting school later. Later start times improve sleep habits. Though there are people who totally disagree with the idea, most experts do support the idea of a later start. Schools should definitely start later.
For some high school students, sleep is not considered a necessity – but rather, a luxury. Sports, extra-curricular activities, and Fine Arts programs play an important role in students’ lives and require a significant amount of commitment and dedication. Social life aside, some students have taken the additional endeavors of acquiring jobs, participating in volunteer activities, and taking extra Advanced Placement classes. With too many tasks to fulfill in a twenty-four hour day, high school students are forced to substitute for the most essential condition of all: sleep.
If school started later, kids wouldn’t be so tired in the morning. School starting later is very beneficial because kids wouldn’t sleep so much in class. Students need a total of 8-10 hours of sleep on school days to be awake in the morning. 33% of teens report falling asleep in class every day. 73% of high school students get fewer than 8 hours of sleep on school nights, with 46% of middle school students getting barely 7 hours of sleep.
This is the perfect equilibrium between too early and too late. A start time at 8:30 allows for a hypothetical extra hour of sleep for a student but also ensures that the school day will not drag on too long in the afternoon. This shift in start time will have a resounding impact on students’ performance in school as well as their personal well-being. A recent study conducted with the cooperation of eight schools affirms this proclamation concluding, “In a recent study of eight U.S. high schools that delayed their start times, researchers found improvements in kids ' grades, attendance and car crash rates”. (Norton). If Brookwood is truly committed to the tradition of excellence they claim, then this statistic alone should be enough persuasion to make the change. Students who get adequate sleep are in turn healthier, more enthusiastic learners which any high school should strive to have. Another reason that shifting the initial start time of Brookwood High School would be beneficial centers around the concept that there are particular hours in the day that students are proven to be
Carpenter, S. (n.d.). Sleep deprivation may be undermining teen health. http://www.apa.org. Retrieved March 6, 2014, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/sleepteen.aspx
For one thing, many people think that if the time school started was pushed back, would students not just go to bed later as well? One New York Times article contradicts this theory. In the article, it is reported, “Six studies, two of which were randomized controlled trials, showed that delaying the start of school from 25 to 60 minutes corresponded with increased sleep time of 25 to 77 minutes per week night. In other words, when students were allowed to sleep later in the morning, they still went to bed at the same time, and got more sleep” (Carroll). While most students may get more sleep, many people are also concerned with transportation.
Should school start at 7:00 or should it start later in the morning? In Douglas High School, start times are at 7:30 in the morning. Changing the school schedule to a later start time would result in many other changes affecting a lot of people. According to the Sleep Foundation, "The change will affect the entire community, from students and parents to businesses, libraries, police, youth sports clubs, bus drivers and many others." Altering the school schedule would influence numerous aspects of people’s lives. Highly coordinated routines would have to be changed and adapted to the new schedule. A later release time would take time off of students’ free time in the afternoon. Clubs, sports, jobs, and other after-school activities would have