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Pros and cons of later school start times
Pros and cons of later school start times
Why schools should start at a later time
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We are all too familiar with that dreadful screech of the alarm clock in the morning but for high school students across America the rooster crows at a ridiculous hour. High school students groggily stumble out of bed only to underperform academically due to a severe lack of sleep. In my case, particularly, I had to be present in my first class promptly at 7:24 AM. For many in similar situations to myself this means waking up at 6 AM just to have time to get prepared for a treacherous day of school running on abysmal hours of sleep. Brookwood High School needs to reevaluate their schedules and push back the beginning of the school day no earlier than 8:30 AM. It is common knowledge to most, that people perform better at school when they are adequately rested. Sleep is a necessary prerequisite for any action that an individual desires …show more content…
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
Sleep: it helps to keep our learning to be consolidate. Students need to have a good night sleep when they have school next day. Also, the next day of school, the student will have more energy and patience to study, to think and to take notes. The attention of the student in class will be strong that will help to restore basics information in his
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.
School start times have been receiving attention across the nation since the mid-1990s (Editorial). Many school districts have considered the benefits of later start times, others have already made the leap of starting classes later in the day, while others are still reluctant to change schedules, questioning if there is any noticeable difference in academic achievement to be seen. However, almost all the school districts that have made changes thus far have reported benefits not only in student performance and achievement, but also in overall student attitude (Gormly). The reason for this is linked to teenagers’ circadian rhythm: the “biological rhythm that governs our sleep-wake cycles” (Carrell 4). In order for students to achieve academic success, schools should push back start times to better accommodate teenagers’ circadian rhythm.
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 will be better, more time to wake up, and better social skills.
Students grades improved dramatically after the schools change their start times because teens stay up later then they really should. Teens really should go to sleep at nine but with sports and other activities they go to sleep at midnight and wake up at six in the morning."I'm going to bed at midnight and waking up at 6," Benmar said her current schedule, which includes jazz choir after school (Associated
Second, more sleep means better attention. What happens when you have more attention? You get better grades! Whenever children don’t get enough sleep, they slack off at school. This means their grades will drop. It’s just a simple fact that if people got more sleep they’d be better
Everyone knows it's going to a be a long day when they're running low on sleep. One night of inadequate sleep can be easily overcome, but many teenagers are dealing with tiredness daily. Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers: the Story of Success, states "Children, we like to believe, should have time to play and dream and sleep" (530). Gladwell presents the idea that adolescents need more time allotted into their schedules for plenty of sleep as well as some fun. However, most teens have an abundance of schoolwork and extracurricular activities making this is impossible. Even though it may not be easy, delaying school start times would be a tremendous step to help America's teens. Today's high school students in the United States are facing exhaustion, low grades, and poor health due to early school start times.
Have you ever wondered why some teens fall asleep during class? Well, that is because the students are not getting enough sleep during the night before. In the article (Sh0uld schools start later? by Lisa M. Herrington), the video (should students start school later in the morning? By ABC News Report), and the infographic by Sarah McKibben tell us that if school start later in the morning, even by half an hour, than the students will be more alert, energetic, and the students will get better grades on tests.
Teens are wired to be night owls and are still required to sleep at least a whole 9 hours to be able to function properly. Studies show that a school with later arrival times is 16.5% less likely to have a car crash than a school with earlier start times. Sleep is very important in order to reduce teen car crashes. If students don’t graduate from high school then who will teach them how go through life. Later school leads to higher graduation rates.
“On what Justin O’Neill stated, these teens arrive to school tired, and now some experts are saying middle and high schools should start later so teens can sleep in.” Due to the fact that teens arrive to school late, they will be too tired, also will be marked tardy, and miss a lot of work. Missing school work will have to make teens stay up when they have free time to catch up on work the have missed while being too tired. By the time school starts at around 7:30 am to 8:30 am they will be too tired and lazy to get out of bed which means they will get tardy. Some schools that started later showed better attendances and less problems on tardiness.
Schools starting later will allow students’ brains to wake up fully. In the opinion of Donn Dexter he believes “high school students are reported to be excessively sleepy, resulting in decreased academic performance, increased psycho-social problems and increased risk of morbidity and mortality from accidents. Early school start times have been noted to contribute
Later May Help Sleepy Teens”). A late start would definitely increase the attendance and alertness of students. Compared to the meager performance of the sleep deprived students, a few extra hours of sleep would definitely make them more productive. High schools who started having later starts are producing positive results. A University of Minnesota study this year used many school districts such as Minneapolis to St. Paul who have later start times, and found the safety and educational benefits (The Editorial Board, “High Schools: Wake Up to Later Start Times: Our View”).
A question that most school districts have recently been discussing is, do middle schools and high schools start classes too early in the morning? As a student, I am concerned with the effects of waking up too early and not getting the amount of sleep that my body needs. In order for teenagers to get their needed eight to nine hours of sleep every night, schools should start thirty to sixty minutes later than they do now. Well rested students will be following their natural sleep patterns, perform better academically, and will have a healthier mindset. With a selective schedule we will be able to work around bus schedules and extracurricular activities to accommodate for a new and improved bell time.
If all of these important activities occur during sleep, why is it that people are so willing to short themselves of this vital activity? Although much about sleep still remains a mystery, research and experiments continue to show how important sleep is to each and every person. Throughout this paper, I will discuss sleep and the effects that it has on performance and health, especially among college students. A college student’s sleeping pattern is a reliable indicator of their level of performance in the classroom and other school-affiliated activities, as a lack of sleep leads to decreased performance. Sleep is directly related to the level of performance and health of an individual; the more rested a person is, the better that person will perform and feel (Dryer, 2006).
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