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Benefits of a later start time in schools
Why schools should start at a later time
Why schools should start at a later time
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Recommended: Benefits of a later start time in schools
Many teenagers across the world are forced to wake up early in the morning to go to school. Because of this, teenagers have a larger risk of sleep deprivation, depression, criminal activity, and more. How can reduce these risks? Some schools have rejected the idea of a later start time, but others are looking into the idea in hopes of trying to reduce these risks. Although some people believe that it would not be beneficial, we should push back school start times in order to reduce sleep deprivation and improve academic performance in teenagers. So why don’t we push back school start times? Some well-meaning citizens worry that it will “be harder for working parents to find child care” (Sifferlin 8). Parents, teachers, and principals all
Sleep! That wonderful, blissful void between last night and this morning. Sleep is one of the most basic functions of life. Nearly all creatures must sleep in order to properly carry out tasks; teenagers are no exception. The typical teenager needs an average of nine to ten hours of sleep a night in order for their brains to be capable of working at full capacity. School starts so early that they infringe upon that basic necessity. In order for teens to receive an adequate amount of sleep, it is mandatory to enact later start times for high schools across the country.
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.
Later School Start Times Everyone has always hated getting up super early to go to school. As children get older they move to different schools, from elementary to middle to high school, and the start times get earlier. In elementary school it was never a problem getting up but getting older, it always got harder to get up and the days were always longer. Schools start so early in the morning that it is hard to focus and students tend to miss more of their earlier classes and attend all of their later classes. Schools everywhere should start later because it would benefit the students and teachers.
Researchers have proven that teenager’s brains don’t start working until ten in the morning, also that an average teenager is supposed to get eight to nine hours of sleep each night. These are a few reasons that school starting times are negatively affecting students learning abilities at school. I believe that schools should have later starting times. An average teenager is supposed to get eight to nine hours of sleep each night, however in reality most teens only get about seven hours. A lack of sleep is causing students to do worse on homework and tests. Our school starts at seven twenty-five, if it started two hours later, then students would be getting the exact amount of sleep that they need each night. A study shows that the brain doesn’t
Ring! Ring! Goes my alarm clock I wake up at 5:00 in the morning for the first day of school. And I think about how school should start much later so teens can get more sleep. In the article should school start later by Lisa M. Harrington and the video "Should Students Start School Later in the Morning? as well as a info graphic by Sarah McKinney titled wake up call all support that schools should let their students get more sleep. Schools should let their students get more sleep so They will be ready to learn and enjoy their breakfast so they can have energy to learn when they enter their school and not be waking up at 5:00 in the morning and start being relaxed and waking up at 7:00 So they can get more time to relax and do what
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.
“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.
70% of high school students, like you and me, are sleep deprived; this means getting less than 7 hours of sleep. The teenage body needs relevant to 8 to 10 hours of sleep because the body is going through an important stage of growth and development. We get this sleep at delayed hours, like 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., due to chemical imbalance during our teenage years. In behalf of this delayed balance and early rising for school purposes, the body and brain are negatively impacted. The only known solution to this epidemic is schools having a later start time. Schools should start later because it could eliminate mental disorders and improve health, causing classroom grades to exceed.
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” (...
When your alarm clock rings, or your parents yell at you in the morning, do you feel like
Many students will say if school started later they will show significant improvements in school performance. In the article “5 Pons and Cons of Later school start times” it’s states that If school started later students would make significant improvements in school performance. Many School districts that experimented with later start times found that students coped with academic workloads much better. Also a study on University of Minnesota found that grades, test scores and overall performance in core subjects advanced significantly when school start times were switched to later hours. So if school districts experimented with later start times and it helped students coped with academic workloads then why aren't we doing later start times. Plus the University of Minnesota said that grades, test scores and overall performance is better when schools started later. If
"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
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.