Kathryn Colburn
Honors English 9 – Period 1
TPQ #1
9/22/14
The average high school student will get about seven hours of sleep each night; this may seem reasonable to the majority of adults, but studies show that most teens need at least nine hours of sleep, if not more, to function at their best during the day. This lack of sleep most teenagers endure is due to various causes: overload of homework, exorbitant extracurricular activities, or simply the fact that most teens are unable to fall asleep until later at night. However, one of the most eminent factors contributing to students’ sleep deprivation is the early start time of school. If school were to start at 9:00 AM and end at 4:00 PM, students would show an improvement in both academics and health. “Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during
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A few of the most typical arguments against the new schedules are statements such as, “Extracurricular activities will be affected”, “It’s too expensive to change the bus schedules”, or, ”Parents won’t be able to bring kids to school”. First, many school districts have changed to a later schedule and managed to keep their extracurricular activities running and successful by simply adjusting practice times around school hours. Secondly, while many schools found that there was little or no cost difference in changing bus schedules, there have been many solutions to the problem of bus costs; some schools flipped the schedules and buses so that elementary kids started earlier instead or made different routes to reduce the quantity of buses needed. Finally, if schools change their times, the community will be able to adjust around the new schedule. Plus, the earlier schedule also causes transportation problems for parents, so a later start time may help some people, and will reduce rush hour traffic by spreading out the times when people leave
Despite popular opinion, to be beneficial, schools should continue on their current schedules, and not start later. Starting schools later can have a variety of positive and negative consequences on students. Schools currently are at a time that gives students enough lesson time to learn subjects, but still have time to relax and take part in other activities after school. Also many families depend on the time school starts to have easy transportation to school and work. Starting schools later will take away students time to do activities of their choice such as spend time with their families, socialize with others, and participate in extracurricular activities.
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.
Studies conducted over a nearly 30 year span have consistently shown only a small fraction of adolescents get the 9 or more hours of sleep they require to function at their best. While teenagers are notorious for causing their own sleep difficulties, sleep loss among adolescents is confined primarily to school nights. “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 cycle, which can make early school start times particularly challenging.” says
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.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, biological sleep patterns change throughout the stages of adolescence. ¨Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence-meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00pm.¨ (¨Teens and Sleep¨). Messing with these sleep cycles in the long run and lead to sleep disorders. Research done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests teenagers 13-18 years old should regularly sleep 8-10 hours each night for a healthy sleep. The teens who do not get a good amount of sleep are more likely to suffer from mental conditions, smoking, illicit drugs, and alcohol use. ¨Not getting enough sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks including being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.¨ (¨Schools Start Too Early¨). On an NBC news story, Hilton Head Island High School moved its start time and benefits were noticeable. Students had higher test score averages and grades improved throughout the school.A study done in 2008 published in the journal of clinical sleep, found car accident rates fell by 16.5% when students were more aware on the road, not having to wake up before 7 am.
When it comes to middle and high schools, they tend to start early, not generally knowing why the kids are tired. Only 15% of schools in America start at 8:30 or later, and it’s affecting schools across the country. Early school start times plague the students with low grades, sleep deprivation, and lower social skills. A solution to all of those factors would be to make the school start time later than 8:00. Middle school start times should be later because grades would be better, more time to wake up, and better social skills. They can’t just make a kid wake up and learn when they want to be asleep!
You’re in your bed sleeping peacefully when all of a sudden you’re jolted awake by your alarm. You drag yourself out of bed, having only gotten five hours of sleep. Does that sound like a nightmare? For many students, that’s a reality. Many students feel they aren’t getting enough sleep which can lead to more problems at school; therefore, school should start later in the day because it would increase grades, keep students safer, and allow teenagers to get enough sleep.
Teenagers today don’t get enough sleep as it is. They need at least nine and a half hours of sleep and teens get their best sleep between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. But 69% of high schoolers get eight hours of sleep and 40% gets less than seven hours of sleep. Did you know that girls are more likely to get less than seven hours of sleep than boys and low income families are also more likely to get less than seven hours of sleep.
Knock knock. Who’s there? School. School who? I’ll school you!Speaking of school; did you know that in America most students spend around 7 hours in school and begin class between 7am-8am?
The dissenters say that school start times do not really affect the student’s behavior or their ability to learn. Studies show how wrong this believe truly is, the negative effects have shown in the numerous studies and polls. Some fear that would later start times in school the students will be left with no time to participate in extracurricular activities.These fears are unjust, If the school start times were later then the community would adjust. Athletes would even benefit from later start times, studies have shown that athletes with start times later than 9 are more likely to succeed in their given sport. Others fear that after school jobs would become less available to the students. A study conducted in Minnesota University ask local businesses it's later start times had negatively affected their workforce and the answer was a resounding no. Students in the workforce have even been shown to have more truancies or tardies than students who do not have to work. So it is reasonable for people to worry about themselves or their children, but their fears are based more on misconceptions than concrete
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.
Don't you hate waking up early for school in the morning? Most high school students wake up before the sun rises just to become ready for school. Teenage brains do not begin to function that early considering many are tired from staying up late the previous night. The National Sleep Foundation reported that most teens do not retain enough shuteye, one study found that only 15% reported sleeping eight 1/2 hours on school nights. That fact was extremely true for me when I attended high school. I barely was able to wake up, get dressed, and be in school on time since I was so tired. In my opinion school days should start later, precisely in between 9- 10 o'clock. If the school day started later attendance would improve, students will be more prepared, and student's attitudes and grades may improve.
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
Teens need about 9 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best. Most teens do not get enough sleep. One study found that 85% students didn’t get enough sleep on school nights.
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.