School Starts Too Early The time is seven in the morning and teens everywhere are dreading waking up early, as the sky is still dark, to actually go do something. Most teenagers struggle to wake up every morning for school. Although schools have been starting early for years now, times are changing and there are more activities going on in today’s teenagers lives. School is starting too early for teenagers because their brains are not awake, they are biologically programmed differently, and they are not getting the required amount of sleep. Teenagers brains are not awake until later in the morning. A past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Physician, M. Safwan Badr, states, “It makes absolutely no sense, you’re asking …show more content…
The American Academy of pediatrics agrees by stating “Getting enough sleep is important for students' health, safety, and academic performance, early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need.” Sleep is important in many aspects in life but focusing on school, sleep is very important. School start times are preventing teenagers from getting necessary sleep. Judith Owens, director of sleep medicine at Boston's Children's Hospital and lead author of the pediatric academy report, using information from the CDC, says “Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are at higher risk for being overweight, depressed and using drugs.” It makes sense for kids needing to sleep to get into trouble and have problems. Many people using drugs or people with depression seem to be tired. The U.S. Department of Education claims that on school nights students should get 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. The recommended amount of sleep is the required amount of sleep for full potential and activity. Students are more willing to learn and learn easier when they get enough sleep. Early school start times are not letting students get the required amount of
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.
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 school starts later. Many people argue that starting schools later will let students get more sleep and align with the students sleep cycles. But they do not factor in that students will just stay up later at night because they know that they do not have to get up as early in the morning. This will just leave students with less sleep than before.
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.
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 for students in school can affect mood, health, ability to pay attention, deal with stress, and retain information, but that's not even everything that is affected. Students are not getting enough sleep to sustain them. As a result of waking up too early for school, students do not function properly. Due to students being tired in the morning, they would learn more in classrooms if school started later.
Are you tired of waking up so early in the morning? Daryn doesn't get tired until 11:00. He then has basketball practice at 6:15. That means he only gets about 6 hours of sleep because he has to wake up at 5:30. After basketball he's tired, then he has to go to school and most likely falls asleep in school because he's so weary from such a busy, miniscule morning. Schools should start later in the morning because it gives the child more sleep so they won't be tired, gives them a more productive morning and benefits their education.
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
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.
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
It’s seven thirty in the morning, the time that most American high schools begin class. Instead of being chipper and ready to learn, most teenagers, at this time of the morning, can barely remain awake. These puffy eyed pupils are by no means ready to learn. Sixty percent children under 18 reported being sleepy during the day, with another fifteen percent reporting that they had fallen asleep during the school day within the past year (National Sleep Foundation, Dozing). Though adolescents require a larger amount of sleep than younger children, they usually receive much less (Indiana University Center for Adolescent Studies). The amount of sleep a teenager receives affects him or her both physically and mentally. Sleep deprived teenagers are more likely to be irritable, be depressed, not perform up to their capabilities in school, and have a decreased ability to handle complex tasks (National Parent Information Network). Though teenage sleep deprivation is a big problem, some simple solutions such as rescheduling the school day to fit teenagers’ biological needs, setting consistent sleep schedules, and teaching children the importance of proper sleep habits can easily remedy this problem.
In a recent study done by Yucaipa high school, 97% of students believe school should start later. Students should be able to start school at 9:00 a.m. Students should start later because kids will have a better attendance and less tardies. The more sleep students get the more energized they are, as well as having a better mood throughout the day. The majority of the students drive, so the more sleep they have helps decrease the rate of car accidents. Students are late, absent, cranky, and careless this is why school should start later.
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.
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 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.
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.