Why School Should Start Later

812 Words2 Pages

Many students, especially teenagers, have trouble waking up early for school in the morning. It is a wish for most children to start school later, giving them more time to complete work and get a full night's sleep. The average school time throughout the US is 8:00 am, which does not correlate with average bedtimes and hours of sleep needed. Although it may be inconvenient for some, delayed school start times allow sleep-deprived students to experience adequate sleep, improving their health and academic performance. Though late starts have several benefits, there are many valid reasons why it can be an issue for others. Many parents worry that it will clash with their children's schedules outside of school. Delaying school in the morning will …show more content…

Getting more sleep isn't as easy as going to bed earlier for students. Teenagers are “biologically wired” to stay awake longer than elementary-age children. According to U.S. News, “changes to the body's "sleep drive", and a delayed release of the sleep hormone, melatonin, make it more difficult for teens to fall asleep early” (Durrani). Homework also affects the hours of sleep students are getting. Children should receive at least 8 hours of sleep per night, 70% don’t due to either staying up late to do homework or having to get up early for school (Wheaton). The average number of hours kids sleep during the school year is 7.4 hours a night (Lacey). Staying up late to complete homework decreases the child's chance of getting proper sleep. Research has shown that delayed start times have many benefits for students. At the University of Washington, there was a study conducted on a group of sophomores from two different high schools wearing “wrist activity monitors all day for two-week periods” (Urton). Researchers wanted to collect their sleep data and compare it to their overall grades, but specifically focus on biology grades (Urton). The first group of students wore monitors when school began at 7:50. Again a group of students from the same two high schools were studied but after school starts had been delayed (Urton). The second group of students showed results of more sleep as well as better biology grades, which

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