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: …show more content…
Students with an early start time may have a higher risk for getting sick or contracting a disease. When adolescents are forced to wake up early, they may develop abnormal sleep patterns, which are detrimental to health and the immune system. For example, sleep deprivation is linked to type two diabetes, one of the fastest growing diseases for American teens (“Sleep may reduce teens’ Type 2 diabetes risk”). In a study on obese teens, lack of sleep is linked with decreased insulin (“Lack of sleep linked to later health problems”). Healthy sleep patterns strengthen the immune system, increasing the chance the student will remain healthy during a virus outbreak in the school or community. Another way sleep is beneficial to the body is the release of hormones from the brain into the body. During the “deep sleep” delta wave stage, the Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is released throughout the body for growth and cell repair (Wysong). This hormone release is especially important for the growing teenager. The traditional school schedule prevents teens from completing enough sleep cycles, creating a deficit of the hormone release in some cases. A full night’s sleep is valuable to the body as well as the …show more content…
"2 Studies Suggest Sleep Is Vital in Consolidating Memories." New York Times 29 July 1994. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. Blakeslee, Sandra. "For better learning, researchers endorse 'Sleep on it' adage."New York Times 7 Mar. 2000: F2. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. "High Schools Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens." Morning Edition 18 Jan. 2007.Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. "Lack of Sleep Linked to Later Heath Problems." Talk of the Nation 11 Apr. 2008.Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. Rabin, Roni Caryn. "Behavior: Napping Can Prime the Brain for Learning." New York Times 23 Feb. 2010: D6(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. Richardson, Lynda. "To Sleep, Perchance to Stay Awake in Class." New York Times27 Dec. 1995. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. "Saved by the late bell." Current Health Teens, a Weekly Reader publication Feb. 2011: 4. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. Selley, Chris. "Go on, sleep in: Toronto schools mull shifting classes to 11:30 to help dozing students." Maclean's 19 Nov. 2007: 158. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 18 Mar.
Students may need to nap to compensate for energy expended throughout the day. However, if schools were to start later, adolescents would not have to nap, allowing for a larger window of time to spend with their families after school, even with a later start time. Another opposing argument is that students would have less time to participate in extracurricular activities. However, this issue can be resolved by making practices for sports and club meetings shorter and more frequent to accommodate the schedule variation. Overall, the benefits of later start times far outweigh the drawbacks.
How many times has this happened to you; it’s six thirty on a Tuesday morning, your alarm has already gone off twice, your still laying in bed and your bus comes in twenty minutes. This is an everyday occurrence at my house. It is a proven statistic that the average high school student does not get enough sleep. While some experts like Dr. Lee Yanku say “It is not the schools starting time that is the problem as to why students don’t get enough sleep, it is because of facebook, myspace and cell phones” The truth behind it is that we can’t budget sports, homework and extracurricular activities into one day and still get nine hours of sleep. This is hurting student’s academic averages and needs to change. Changing the school time will help boost academic averages among students, and isn’t th...
The article, Today’s Exhausted Superkids, makes several valid points about the teenage generation lacking sleep each night. According to Frank Bruni, the reason for this is caused by cell phones, social media, schoolwork, and friends. I agree very much with this article because I can relate to it. I completely agree school work and cell phones have a major impact on the amount of sleep teenagers get.
For some high school students, sleep is not considered a necessity – but rather, a luxury. Sports, extra-curricular activities, and Fine Arts programs play an important role in students’ lives and require a significant amount of commitment and dedication. Social life aside, some students have taken the additional endeavors of acquiring jobs, participating in volunteer activities, and taking extra Advanced Placement classes. With too many tasks to fulfill in a twenty-four hour day, high school students are forced to substitute for the most essential condition of all: sleep.
Teens spend most of their day at school but are unable to fulfill their learning opportunities because of little or no sleep.
“Bueller?…Bueller?” The monotone history teacher appearing in the popular 1980’s film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” proceeds to take role-call in his morning history class: a positively lethargic group of students, comically struggling to stay awake. As the teacher monotonously pronounces each name on the attendance list, one student gives a deadpan stare, mouth slightly agape and eyes drooping, while another student can’t beat the fatigue and sleeps with his head on his desk as a trickle of drool escapes his mouth. While this comic scene takes place on a Hollywood set, it is not far removed from many classroom situations across the country as Aarthi Belani, a high school student from Minnesota, notes about the 7:20 a.m. chemistry class she took her junior year. “It was an ungodly hour to be studying chemistry,” she recalls with a shiver; “In the first period, 75 percent of the kids would have their heads down on their desk at one time or another” (Bettelheim 4). Students in high schools from Maine to California find it equally grueling to stay awake during their morning classes since more and more schools choose to open their doors at the crack of dawn, many around 7:30 a.m. and some as early as 7:05 a.m. Dr. James B. Maas, a sleep expert and psychology professor at Cornell University, found that on average, 20 percent of high school students are so fatigued that they sleep at some point during the school day each week (Crombie 2). That’s a lot of beat kids in this country, a fact which has countless sleep experts, lawmakers, parents and teachers alarmed by the groggy state of America’s youth. High schools in this country simply start too early. Teenagers are being forced to ignore their bodies’ natural sleep/wake patterns in...
Anaheim Schools are starting too early because kids aren't Physically awake. Anaheim students are expected to be on the school campus by 7:44 am and be prepared to learn. Most students come with their cup of coffee trying to stay awake due to lack of sleep so they have no physical motivation nor energy to learn or be prepared for a full day of teaching. If the student is well rested it’s more likely they will be more patient and take their time to understand what they are learning. In the Essay, Marita’s Bargain, writer Gladwell speaks about how students need more time in the classrooms to fully understand the lessons taught daily in schools.
School Start Time Study: Final Report Summary. (August 2001). Retrieved November 13, 2002, from http://education.umn.edu/carei/Programs/start_time/default.html
(Teens4) Work schedules for teens are also a contributing factor. Teens who work more than fifteen hours a week after school and on the weekends have less time for sleep. Teens typically stay up late and sleep in late on weekends which can affect the quality of their sleep. “If parents and teens know what good sleep entails and the benefits of making and sticking to a plan that supports good sleep, then they might re-examine what they think ‘essential activities’ truly are” (Teens5). Sleep deprivation can affect the way the brain functions during the day when teenagers are need of it the
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.
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.
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
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.
Madison, Alta. “In School: Every Day, Year - Round?” New York Times 14 Jan 2001: 16.
Should school start at 7:00 or should it start later in the morning? In Douglas High School, start times are at 7:30 in the morning. Changing the school schedule to a later start time would result in many other changes affecting a lot of people. According to the Sleep Foundation, "The change will affect the entire community, from students and parents to businesses, libraries, police, youth sports clubs, bus drivers and many others." Altering the school schedule would influence numerous aspects of people’s lives. Highly coordinated routines would have to be changed and adapted to the new schedule. A later release time would take time off of students’ free time in the afternoon. Clubs, sports, jobs, and other after-school activities would have