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Effect of school start times on academic performance
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School Start Times
Starting school early for teenagers does not help us, if anything it makes life and school harder. Some students stay up late doing homework, get home later from sports, or other activities and having to wake up at 6 something in the morning does not help those students. It has been proven that starting school later would not only help students in school, but also in life.
To begin with, according to a CDC article it starts off by saying “ Starting school later can help adolescents get enough sleep and improve their health, academic performance, and quality of life.” The definition of adolescents is the process of developing from a child into an adult. This is relevant to my point because being able to sleep in a bit would help students/ teenagers in the long run. In the same article it goes on to say that a study by The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 8-10
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In an article by Times it says “... students are allowed to wake up in the morning, they’ll be more focused during the day, more alert behind the wheel and less likely to be late to (or absent from) school.” I know from experience that waking up in the morning is very difficult for students. In the same source it says “ … teenagers should sleep 8-10 hours a night. But according to CDC, almost 70% of high school-school students report sleeping 7 hours or less on a regular basis.” It’s understandable for an adult or teacher to blame the students saying that they should go to bed earlier but they have to understand that sometimes teenagers get home late or just aren’t able to fall asleep at the time that they should. Not getting enough sleep can also be a danger, as I said in my first point, about being alert behind the wheel, some people can doze off while driving. I know it may seem hard to believe for people that don’t experience that, but it has became a problem, especially with this
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. Also students will be up later finishing homework and socializing on their phones with friends. Although schools will now have been adjusted to fit with students sleep cycles, that does not mean that the students will actually
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.
There is multiple facts and reasons to have later start times help students get through the school day. BY helping students get better grades, test scores, and overall better. And teens these days aren't getting the sleep they need to wake up early and go to school. SO that is why school should have later start times. IF schools started later we wouldn't have all these tired and groggy students coming to school we would have students that are refreshed and ready to learn. We will have students that have good grades. We will have students who have better test scores. And we will have students with overall better performance.I what you right now pick up your phone and call your district and say we want later start
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.
“BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!” The teenage student slams on the snooze button and struggles to get out of bed for the early school day. Teens on average need 9 ¼ hours of sleep (Backgrounder: Later School Start Times). Teens currently average fewer than 7 hours of sleep (Backgrounder: Later School Start Times). Hectic schedules, poor sleep habits, homework, and family obligations are the problem (Backgrounder: Later School Start Times). Schools are considering starting their school days later in the morning. For example, one Minneapolis school considered pushing back their start time from 7:15 to 8:30. Another Seattle school considers pushing back the school day start reported Jean Enersen. Would this benefit the students or harm the students? Is this for the better or for the worse? These are questions many superintendents and school board members are asking themselves. They all want to do what is best for their students, so the topic takes a lot of thinking, planning, and conversations. School starting later can be a very controversial issue.
Throughout the United States, students tend to complain about how early school starts in the morning. A few schools in the U.S. are beginning to move their start times later in the morning. However, not everyone is on the same side of these decisions. Some say that later school start times will have benefits on student performance and student health. Others say that later school start times would have negative affects on what time school will end and the schedules of the community. What times schools start is a very controversial topic.
The first reason why school should start later is because teens need sleep. Most teens don’t or can’t go to sleep to get the needed amount of sleep, so they are more rushed in the morning and stressed throughout the day. According to the national sleep foundation, “59% of sixth graders and 87% of high schoolers aren’t getting the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night. If school started later, they could get the sleep they need and they wouldn’t be as stressed or tired.
Although sizeable information exists for the concepts that early school start times are destructive to adolescents’ health and well-being along with delaying school start times results in real and constant benefits to students, the current debate among school districts in the United States regarding school systems later start times for middle and high schools continues to spark controversy.
Teenagers need more sleep to go throughout the day. It has been proven multiple times that teenagers do not tend to wake up early and go to sleep later. In the article Should School Stay Early it says “They have a biological tendency to
“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 up cycle, which can make early school start times particularly challenging.” says Boergers.
You’re in your bed sleeping peacefully when all of a sudden you’re jolted awake by your alarm. You drag yourself out of bed, having only gotten five hours of sleep. Does that sound like a nightmare? For many students, that’s a reality. Many students feel they aren’t getting enough sleep which can lead to more problems at school; therefore, school should start later in the day because it would increase grades, keep students safer, and allow teenagers to get enough sleep.
Don't you hate waking up early for school in the morning? Most high school students wake up before the sun rises just to become ready for school. Teenage brains do not begin to function that early considering many are tired from staying up late the previous night. The National Sleep Foundation reported that most teens do not retain enough shuteye, one study found that only 15% reported sleeping eight 1/2 hours on school nights. That fact was extremely true for me when I attended high school. I barely was able to wake up, get dressed, and be in school on time since I was so tired. In my opinion school days should start later, precisely in between 9- 10 o'clock. If the school day started later attendance would improve, students will be more prepared, and student's attitudes and grades may improve.
Sleep is a fundamental need for everyone who needs sleep. Sleep is as important as eating food and drinking fluids. But teenagers are the ones seen not getting enough sleep at night. It is proven that teenagers get the minimum hours of sleep than any other age group. Teenagers are seen getting about five hours or less of sleep each night. Lack of sleep can affect many thing in a negative way. Sleep deprivation can affect things such as abilities to learn, listen, pay attention, and drive. It can also affect someone's mental health and physical health.
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.
Teens need about 9 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best. Most teens do not get enough sleep. One study found that 85% students didn’t get enough sleep on school nights.