High school arrival times can have a huge impact on the daily routine of teenagers across the United States. The negative effects of early arrivals can range from depression and sleep deprivation. High schools across the nation have been experimenting to find the “perfect” start time for their stundentsstudents. Some schools begin their day earlier than 7:30 AM, while others begin well after 9:00 AM. Start times are important due to the fact that , because they generally set the rhythm of the day for students. It has been proven that teenager’s body clocks are set to a unique schedule due to changes during puberty. These changes cause teenagers to go to sleep at a later time and wake up later in the morning. Because of this, students who attend early-starting schools generally receive less sleep than those who attend later-starting schools. Also, research shows students in early-starting schools are more likely to be tardy and absent than students in later-starting schools (Lamberg). Creating an arrival time that compliments the unique schedule of teenagers would encourage students to arrive on time, boost individual student achievement, and allow students to get more sleep. High schools should start later in the morning to better benefit the students both academically and for their healthents.
High schools frequently have problems with tardy and absent students. Starting school bells contrast with adolescents sleep patterns and needs. One fact that has been noticed through research is that later-starting schools have a higher increase in student attendance (Lamberg). Biologists have even been able to prove that it is a natural tendency for teenagers to stay up later at night and wake up later in the morning (Tonn, 2). For teena...
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...generally advocates of the time change. Even though later start times would be a hamper to after school activities, lengthening the day would help close the achievement gap between students who attend early-starting schools and later-starting schools. Later school start times can demonstrate some positive long-term effects.
Works Cited
Lamberg, Lynne. "High Schools Find Later Start Time Helps Students' Health And
Performance." JAMA: Journal Of The American Medical Association 301.21 (2009):
2200-2201. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Tonn, Jessica L. “Later High School Start Times A Reaction To Research.” Education Week
25.28 (2006): 5-17. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Wahlstrom, Kyla. “Later High-School Start Times Still Working.” Education Digest 68.6
(2003): 49. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Students may need to nap to compensate for energy expended throughout the day. However, if schools were to start later, adolescents would not have to nap, allowing for a larger window of time to spend with their families after school, even with a later start time. Another opposing argument is that students would have less time to participate in extracurricular activities. However, this issue can be resolved by making practices for sports and club meetings shorter and more frequent to accommodate the schedule variation. Overall, the benefits of later start times far outweigh the drawbacks.
How many times has this happened to you; it’s six thirty on a Tuesday morning, your alarm has already gone off twice, your still laying in bed and your bus comes in twenty minutes. This is an everyday occurrence at my house. It is a proven statistic that the average high school student does not get enough sleep. While some experts like Dr. Lee Yanku say “It is not the schools starting time that is the problem as to why students don’t get enough sleep, it is because of facebook, myspace and cell phones” The truth behind it is that we can’t budget sports, homework and extracurricular activities into one day and still get nine hours of sleep. This is hurting student’s academic averages and needs to change. Changing the school time will help boost academic averages among students, and isn’t th...
One drawback to later start times is the fact that school would end later. Since schools that start later still have the same number of hours in a day, they would in turn end later in the afternoon. This can cause problems for after school activities, and also homework after school. Some students families depend on the money earned from working after school jobs. If the school they were attending got out later, they would have less time after school to work these jobs, so they would be unable to make the money they need to support their families (“Eight Major Obstacles to Delaying School Start Times”). In addition, any after school clubs or activities would end later after school, causing those involved to stay up later at
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.
“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.
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.
According to Impact of Delaying School Start Time on Adolescent Sleep, Mood, and Behavior ”Students reported significantly more satisfaction with sleep and experienced improved motivation. Daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and depressed mood were all reduced.” This quote is important because it shows how students moods were changed by allowing them to be able to sleep later. Students being able to sleep in decreases the chance of having depression and also decreases the rate of suicide. Therefore, having late start will impact the students in a positive
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
“BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!” The teenage student slams on the snooze button and struggles to get out of bed for the early school day. Teens on average need 9 ¼ hours of sleep (Backgrounder: Later School Start Times). Teens currently average fewer than 7 hours of sleep (Backgrounder: Later School Start Times). Hectic schedules, poor sleep habits, homework, and family obligations are the problem (Backgrounder: Later School Start Times). Schools are considering starting their school days later in the morning. For example, one Minneapolis school considered pushing back their start time from 7:15 to 8:30. Another Seattle school considers pushing back the school day start reported Jean Enersen. Would this benefit the students or harm the students? Is this for the better or for the worse? These are questions many superintendents and school board members are asking themselves. They all want to do what is best for their students, so the topic takes a lot of thinking, planning, and conversations. School starting later can be a very controversial issue.
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” (...
Plus the University of Minnesota said that grades, test scores and overall performance is better when schools started later. If There is multiple facts and reasons to have later start times help students get through the school day. BY helping students get better grades, test scores, and overall better. And teens these days aren't getting the sleep they need to wake up early and go to school. SO that is why school should have later start times.
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
"It’s time to wake up, sleepyhead.” “You better get up or you’ll miss the bus.” Teenagers across the U.S. are being forced to wake up when their bodies are telling them otherwise. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (2014) recognized adolescent sleep deprivation as a public health issue and released a policy statement recommending that high schools and middle schools not start before 8:30 a.m. (Boyland, Lori, 2015). Despite this recommendation, many school districts across the United States are disregarding this announcement and starting school, as early as 7:10 a.m. Some teenagers struggle with performing at the high levels needed to be successful in today’s schools because of early start times. Stakeholders, such as parents
School days starting later would help improve student attendance by a lot! For example, a copious amount of students oversleep which results in lateness to school. However, if school started at least one to two hours later, then the students perhaps will not be late, and as a result, they can...
The alarm goes off at six am and the typical high school student is barely able to open their eyes. It is time to get up and prepare for a full day at school, about eight hours. Most teenagers, according to the National Sleep Foundation, will only get about six hours of sleep since they tend to stay up until midnight (“Should schools start later in the day?”). After getting ready, many students look forward to a nap in their first hour class despite the information they will miss. Teenagers seem to always have had trouble getting up in the morning, even earning the title of lazy from their parents. However, recent research on adolescent sleep patterns has produced a biological explanation for this tendency. This raises a serious question: why are high schools starting early in the morning when teenagers are biologically programmed to sleep in? For most cases, school start time has not been conformed to fit student physiological needs simply because of transportation issues.