Persuasive Essay On Why School Should Start Later

Every school day, I wake up at 5:30 a.m. to prepare for my carpool’s arrival at 6. I am obligated wake up this early because the commute to school takes about half an hour and both my carpool and I have an A period at 7 a.m. Mornings have always been a struggle for me, but ever since I started waking up for A period my freshman year, it has only gotten harder. If I am lucky, I can fall asleep by around 10:20, which would give me about 7 hours of sleep. However, this is not enough, as the healthy amount for the average teenager is about 9-10 hours. One might think I would get used to the amount of sleep I get, but I absolutely hate it, especially with how early it is in the morning. I have spoken to my friends about this before, and some have

For one thing, many people think that if the time school started was pushed back, would students not just go to bed later as well? One New York Times article contradicts this theory. In the article, it is reported, “Six studies, two of which were randomized controlled trials, showed that delaying the start of school from 25 to 60 minutes corresponded with increased sleep time of 25 to 77 minutes per week night. In other words, when students were allowed to sleep later in the morning, they still went to bed at the same time, and got more sleep” (Carroll). While most students may get more sleep, many people are also concerned with transportation. Many school districts use the same buses for elementary, middle, and high schools. School start times are staggered so less buses are needed, thus making many high schools start earlier than middle and elementary schools. If high schools started later, it would be costly to pay for more buses (Carroll). A later start time would also mean a later end time, and as a result, after-school activities and sports would be affected, as they would start much into the evening. Since it would be getting darker, that means the school has to pay for additional lighting, which would also be costly (Carroll). The late hours would also possibly interfere with parents’ work schedules, so some students might have a dilemma when it comes to getting home. However, in my opinion, the benefits of changing the start time outweigh the