Wake Up, Let’s Go to School
Many people have said, schools should start later. And yes, there are many arguments that suggest that it should start later. But is this really the best option? For example, teens need more sleep, and it is true that it is scientifically proven that teens need about 8-10 hours of sleep. But is starting school later really the best solution? The answer to that is no. Starting school late can increase function, but the same results apply if you just get the right amount of sleep.
One of the reasons why mainly teens stay up could be mentioned by the amount of homework. This isn’t a debate about homework, but instead of starting school late, a possible solution could be to decrease the amount of homework. Also, the homework can be finished right when the school day ends, or during lunch, instead of procrastinating and pushing it later and later into the night. Why should the school take blame for the student’s irresponsibility? If the dog actually ate your homework, would you like to be blamed for not doing your homework? I think not, and that’s what schools feel also. University of Surrey and Harvard Medical School found that delaying school times in the UK and other parts of the world is highly unlikely to reduce sleep deprivation in teenagers.
The research was conducted with collaboration between mathematicians and sleep scientists, and predicted that turning down the screen usage and lights in the evening will help with sleep deprivation, not starting school late. According to sciencedaily.com “The study, which is published today in Scientific Reports, used a mathematical model that takes into account whether people are naturally more of a morning or evening person, the natural and artificial light on the body clock and the typical time of an alarm clock, to predict the effects of delaying school start times.” The mathematical model showed that delaying school time would not reduce sleep deprivation, as the proposition side states it would. This is even an example in regular life. During day light saving times, EVERYONE’S body adjusts to the new time.
More than likely, as the students adjust to the new late start, and in a matter of weeks everyone would find it just as hard to get out of bed.The mathematical proof comes from the 17th century Dutch mathematician Huygens, who saw that “clocks can synchronize, but it depends on both the clocks and how they influence each other. From research over the last few decades we know that body clocks typically run a little slow, so they need to be ‘corrected’ if they are to remain sync with the 24 hour day.” Back in the day, without all the technology, the correcting signal came from our interaction with the environmental night/day clock. According to the math, the reasons why teens are sleep deprived is their light consumption behavior that interferes with the natural environmental clock of the human body. The light coming off the screens tricks the body into thinking that it’s still day even though it is 9pm and time to go to bed.
The math also suggests that going through adolescence, teens are especially effected by this cycle. According to Dr. Anne Skeldon a researcher on the project, “It highlights that adolescents are not ‘programmed’ to wake up late and that by increasing exposure to bright light during the day, turning lights down in the evening and off at night should enable most to get up in time for work or school without too much effort and without changing school timetables.” If an individual truly wants to do well at school, they would get up early and go. Even if school starts later and improves grades, IT WILL NOT CHANGE THE ATTITUDE OF THE STUDENT, and attitude can determine more things in life than a simple grade in school.
One who wants to succeed will always pay attention and not complain about time changes, but one who does not want to do well will still not pay attention and have the same habits.Some of the most successful people, like the CEO and co-founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey gets up at 5am to start the day.Teaching young kids that it is important to get a head start on the day can affect how successful they will become in the future, as jobs will not tolerate a person being late.Starting school day’s early can help an individual get used to what is expected of them in the future.
We all know that it is easy to stay up late and to wake up late. But does this make it to right thing to do? Scientific studies and profiles of successful people are used in favor of early risers. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but nothing worth doing usually is. So think about it, is starting school later really the best solution to the overall problem?
