Persuasive Essay About High School Start Times

The School’s biggest Threat

The students are in danger and we are to blame. School start times have become a threat to the youth. Most high schools start before 8 in the morning, but is this early start time a blessing or a curse in disguise? I believe that students would benefit from a later start time, some believe that the current early start time is better.

Can children count on teachers to counteract the effects of early start times or is the student's education going to be affected? It has been scientifically proven that teenagers are biologically unable to perform optimally under the current circumstances. Studies have shown that teenagers have difficulty falling asleep before 10 and need 8 to 10 hours of sleep, but statistics show that only 15% of

teenagers get the required amount of sleep. For teenagers to be fully rested the current start time of 8 in the morning needs to be changed to 9 or later. Research shows that students with later school start times have a higher grade point average. A program at Parowan high school showed that most students that had a GPA of 2.0 or lower had a higher GPA when the start time was changed from 8 to 9:15 and the overall test scores were 5 to 10% higher. For the next generation of doctors, lawyers, and teachers to be competent and reliable we have to consider how well received their education is. Though not as conclusive as the study's tested data teachers also noticed a difference in their students ability to learn. In schools with later start times it was noted that most students participated more and actively listened to what was being taught. Also the student's ability to memorize or remember what they were taught greatly increased. The proven benefits of having a later start time are numerous and crucial to the academic success of teenage students.
Teenagers already faced many challenges: hormones, relationships, jobs, school. even without these daunting tasks teenagers still have to combat the unreasonably early school start times. Is this added stress pushing people over the edge? Early school start times have a negative reaction on the behavior of the students. Studies have shown that there is an increase in violence or aggression in schools with start times before 9. Not only does school start times affect how a student acts but their emotional state as well. A poll in 2006 sleep in America showed that about 54% of surveyed students were considered to be depressed. It was noticed that students considered to be on the higher end of the depression scale had less sleep than the other students and were more likely to fall asleep in class. Even though adults feel that teenagers do not have a reason to be stressed many teenagers report to be anxious, hopeless about their future, and overly worried about inconsequential tasks. Some researchers believe that this is due to unhealthy sleeping habits and can be fixed if proper habits are instilled in the students. Obviously school start times can change the emotional and behavioral state of the school, but few seem to realize the true extent of chronic sleep deprivation.
Some people disagree with later start times, believing that it would do more harm than good.

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

facts.
Some people prefer the current start time but most that a later start time would be more beneficial to the students. Not only is later start times incredibly beneficial but earlier start times are incredibly harmful. The benefits of later start times far away any drawbacks. It's important to remember the necessity of sleep on the still developing mind. Without sleep students fall behind, but with sleep student’s true potential to succeed shines through.