Sleep is an important thing for people to do. Sleep is that golden thing that ties health and our bodies together. If you do not get enough sleep it can cause hallucinations, depression, paranoia, and impulsive behaviors. That is only a small list of things that lack of sleep can cause. Most students have a hard time with sleep when they have to wake up early from school and stay up late to finish homework. Sleep is vital to your well-being, 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. This essay will be going over the cons of starting school early in the morning.
Teens have a tendency to go to sleep later, yet many high schools start the
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Schools and communities can play a role, too. In 1996, the Edina Public School District in Minnesota became the first school system in the state to change school start times to accommodate the sleep needs of teens. “Academic performance is about more than class size and dollars spent per pupil,” said Superintendent Kenneth Dragseth in a statement at the time. “We do everything we can to create an optimal learning environment for our students. If adjusting school starting times improves their performance, we’re willing to make the changes necessary to do that.”
If teens need 8 to 10 hours of sleep to do their best and naturally go to sleep around 11:00 pm, one way to get more sleep is to start school later. Teens' natural sleep cycle puts them in conflict with school start times. Most high school students need an alarm clock or a parent to wake them on school days. They are like zombies getting ready for school and find it hard to be alert and pay attention in class. Because they are sleep deprived, they are sleepy all day and cannot do their best. Schools that have set later bell times find that students do not go to bed later, but get one hour more of sleep per school night, which means five hours more per
cases, this cycle can lead to depression and even suicide.” Therefore, it is crucial that schools prioritize the well-being of their students and adjust their schedules accordingly. The article titled "Despite Research on Teens' Sleep, Change to School Start Times Difficult" states that some argue against later school start times, claiming that "students will have less time later in the day to spend with their families if school starts later" (Blad). While this may seem like a valid concern, it is not always the case.
In the two articles, “High Schools Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens” by Michelle Trudeau and “High Schools Will Keep Starting Too Early. Here’s why” by Dan Weissman. Each author uses different evidence to support his or her claim about school starting times. According to “High School Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens”, most teenagers are not getting the proper rest at night and is causing a severe consequence to their everyday experiences. Students need sleep because it can prevent a child from falling asleep in class and helping the child focus. “students reported less depression when there was a later starting time.”
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.
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.
“Sleep deprivation is epidemic among adolescents, with potentially serious impacts on mental and physical health, safety, and learning. Most teenagers undergo a biological shift to a later sleep-wake up cycle, which can make early school start times particularly challenging.” says Boergers.
Sleep is extremely important to all of us, but students and teens aren't getting enough of it and it’s a problem. When teenage students are tired, that increases obesity, illness, anxiety, and depression. No parent or teacher wants their kids to have those qualifications so that's one of the reasons why school should start later.
Judith Owens, M.D., M.P.H., Director of Sleep Medicine, Children’s National Medical Center stated that, “There’s no question that later [school] start times pose significant challenges and barriers, … but [making a change to the these start times] is something within our control, something we can change to make a significant impact on the long-term health of children” (Clarkson para. 29) The issue regarding when the start to the school day should begin may not seem like a threatening topic that drastically affects our lives, but as Owens stated it has a “long-term” effect on the generations of tomorrow. In order words, the school start times do affect many individuals, not only in the present, but carries it out throughout their lives. These long-term effects may come from the result of sleep deprivation and stress piled upon students during the school year. These issues may not seem rather insignificant at its moment, but they can and will negatively affect the children. Therefore, the starting times for schools should be pushed back a least an hour to not only to benefit the students physically and mentally, but also academically, and although there are some conflicts in doing so, the overall outcome results in giving adolescents a healthier future, with a chance of reaching greater opportunities.
Teens are recommended to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night to be able to function to the best of their ability. A study found that only 15% of teens receive 8.5 hours on school night. According to the CDC, “Five out of six middle and high schools in the United States start the school day too early.” Most high schools start before 8:30 A.M. High schools starting too early in the morning can cause high school students to not get their necessary amount of sleep. Lack of sleep can cause harmful health effects. Not getting enough sleep can cause behavior effects such as aggressiveness and impulsivity. Not getting enough sleep can also cause you to overeat, which can lead to unhealthy weight gain. Changing the start time of high schools can assure high school students with their appropriate amount of
Later school start times are scientifically proven to help teens in many beneficial ways. Teenagers and adolescents have sleep patterns. According to the article,¨ Teens and Sleep¨ Teens bodies naturally
“These experts have long said that expecting teens to show up to class before 8 a.m. is not good for their health or their report cards” (Associated Press). Schools are starting to start school later for many reasons but the important ones are it’s not good for teen health and grades it affects their grades a lot. Students from various schools are saying that students are falling asleep in class and are missing out on important information they need to do there homework.
First of all, some teens simply don’t get enough sleep. People argue they should just go to sleep earlier, but it’s not that easy. Teens and children have a tendency to go to sleep late and wake up late. They have a life to live outside of school should open at at least ten o’clock.
Again, Dr. Owens says that teens receiving more rest with a later school start time are at a lower risk of being in a traffic accident. However, teens cannot replace the hours they didn't sleep that night, which means that they cannot change their sleep pattern. Sleeping at different times for several nights in a row can be harmful to teens’ health because it disrupts the body’s sleep cycle. Dr. Cora Breuner from www.npr.org states,“We want to promote safety with kids. We truly believe our teenagers are getting six to seven hours of sleep a night, and they need eight or ten.” Another reason why school should start later is that many parents are also leaning towards later start times, the same with doctors since the worry for teens’ sleeping hours is a big concern lately. School should be later because of teens’ safety, and people should be aware how important that
Lack of sleep of teens is not caused by choice. Many teens do not choose to stay up late at night because they are out or having fun. The body has circadian rhythms. “These rhythms are generated internally and develop without any social or environmental cues. Adolescents experience a natural circadian phase delay and, therefore, tend to stay up later and sleep in later than in preadolescents” (Final Report Summary, 2001). The opening and closing schedules of schools are not based on these rhythms but are based on the business world and what is best for it. “School schedules should be adapted to the unique needs of different sub-populations of pupils. The administrator must not bear the sole responsibility for planning class schedules” (...
Elementary, middle, and high school would get out at different times. Also teenagers, kids or children sleep during class, because they stayed up to late on the internet or either watching tv. Most teens need 8 ½ - 9 hours of sleep each night,to be awake and completely active (kids Health). Early start times in some schools also might play a role in lost sleep. Teens who fall asleep after midnight may still have to get up early for school, meaning that they might squeeze in only 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night (kids
When children make the transition from primary school to middle school or high school, it affects them a lot when the changing of their own sleep cycle affects the way they actually learn. Dr. Judith Owens, who is the director of the Sleep Medicine Clinic at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., says "adolescents are programmed to fall asleep later,” (2013). She wants to change school start times to later because "we are asking [teens] to be awake and alert at the time in their 24-hour clock when their alertness level is at its very lowest,” (2013). She also says that most teens can’t usually fall asleep until 11 p.m. Sleep expert Amy Wolfson of College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., says that children should try to get eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep a night. Waking up at six a.m. leads to bad sleep patterns creating sleep deprivation.