Later School Starting

Doesn’t everyone dread getting up for school in the morning. After struggling to get to bed before eleven with all of the homework I have, waking up at six in the morning is so difficult. Coming to school with such little energy, I don’t feel ready to learn and remember any important information.

One night I had loads of homework in each class and tests to prepare for. The next day I went to school with less than five hours of sleep. In every class the only thing I could focus on was staying awake. More schools need to start later for so many reasons. To further understand the impact of early start times, it is crucial to look at the health of sleeping, opponents of a later starting time, and advantages of starting later.

The typical sleep cycle for teenagers start around 11 P.M. and usually continue through 8 A.M. According to School Start Later,”having to wake up around 6 A.M.

not only gives high schoolers fewer hours than they need but makes up us wake up in the middle of a deep sleep,” which only proves the fact that school is too early and the start time needs to be pushed back. While teens are in school they are growing and the teenage body should get at least 8-9 hours of sleep to develop. Although there are many components to why school should start later, there are a few why it shouldn’t. In an article from Tes, it was stated that academics from Surrey University and Harvard Medical School “argue that delaying school times would simply cause most teenagers’ internal clocks to drift,” although teens already have their internal clocks shifted almost monthly due to breaks and weekends. A change in start time would not alter the ability to wake up, only benefit.

Another point to this argument is that when a person is young, their body is growing and still developing. This means that teens need the most sleep they can get to fully develop. When teen bodies have stopped growing and sleep doesn’t affect nearly as much for changes in the body, then getting up so early won’t be such a big issue. Even though we won’t be getting up so early doesn’t mean that it won’t be routine, because if we are waking up same time everyday that is a routine. Another major one is after school activities. It would have to start later which results in a later ending.

This argument may be true but, it’s such a small factor compared to the health of students. If they have good sleep it will cause less injuries in the activity they are doing, because they are more concentrated. Also if someone got injured, sleep is so helpful in the recovery process. There a some disadvantages but I think all the advantages over rule that fact. Think about how excited all the students hear there is a late start.

If it was like that everyday, the mood of students would be much more positive. Tardiness, it would decrease from starting later rather than leaving their house ten minutes before school starts they would be provided with more time. Also students driving in such a rush to get to school results in speeding and crashes. If the roads are slippery in winter and they are whipping around the corners to get to school it can only end badly. In a 2008 study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, “crash rates fell by 16.

5% in the two years after a school district shifted its start times later, compared to the two years before.” This statement makes it clear that moving school start times back will not only benefit the students psychologically, but also with their safety. dfThe more concentrated and awake students are in class the more they actually take in. That results in better grades. Colleges are really concerned about the students grades. If schools want their students to success, they need to be focused while they are in the classrooms.

From getting more sleep it not only helps to be a healthy teenager but provides more concentration and a fresh mind to learn. Having that extra hour of sleep would help me feel prepared and ready to learn, not focusing on when I will be able to sleep again. Even though after school activities may change from an hour difference, it doesn’t change the fact of how focused students should be to get to success. The later school starts the better the moods of students. We all hate waking up so early, and facts even show how it is bad for us. So, why are all these schools still starting early?