Why Should School Start Later Essay

Have you ever got up on Monday morning and felt like you needed more sleep? Students are required to have eight to ten hours of sleep every night to function best for the day, but it’s not possible when having to juggle homework, sports, work, and social life. Many students have a hard time staying awake during lectures; they are more grumpy and very irritable throughout the day. Sleep is vital to your well-being. Sleep is as important as what you put into your body. K-12 schools should start later in the morning in order for students to get the required amount of sleep to be able to focus and engage in school, have a better attitude, and have better physical and mental health. Students need plenty of sleep to be able to function well in school. They often sit in class listening to a teacher talk for hours. But when they are tired, it is nearly impossible to stay awake and be engaged. That could cause students to not learn anything.

Students fall behind, and make their grades drop. With a lack of sleep, humans are prone to making mistakes and will not be able to do the work. Think about how many students drive to school. Do you think it is safe for a student to be tired when driving? By changing the school start time from 7:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m, students would gain an hour or two of sleep which can make a big difference in a student’s academic performance. Moving the time could also help students who have a sporting event and didn’t get home until 11:00 p.m. Students now has the opportunity to stay up late and do her homework, so instead of having to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and only getting seven hours of sleep; this student can sleep until 8:00 a.m. and get eight hours of sleep, giving her a chance to stay awake during school and be able to focus and engage in the classroom. After a sleepless night, we feel irritated and short-tempered. But with a good night’s sleep, it has been shown that students are much happier and exhibit a better attitude. With a good attitude comes the ability to be motivated and push for higher academic achievement, also shows a direct influence of self-confidence on school achievement.

We can agree that when we change our behavior, we change our performance. A good attitude can aid students in making new friends. Students who exhibit a good attitude also tends to make better connections with teachers, which can make it easier to reach out if they need help or support from the teacher because they already have built that bond. If we increase our hours of sleep, we can lower the bully rate because children will be well-rested. Not to mention that the attendance rate will increase. Most students do not bother coming to school because they can’t get out of bed, but with a later starting time, they will have enough sleep and time to get to school on time. Starting school later can help combat depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation and obesity. Lack of sleep can lead to a sleep deficit that results in lasting physical and mental health problems. The one major effect of little sleep is stress. School is already very stressful but add a lack of sleep, and we are looking at major health issues.

Stress can lead to heart attacks, headaches, diabetes, and even death. One of the biggest growing concerns in America is obesity among young adults. But we can solve that by letting students get the sleep they need to help fight obesity, and stress. Having little to no stress can help clear up students’ brains, so they can focus on the task at hand. Many students are part of a school sports team, which is very good for their physical health but what if they are not getting the right amount of sleep? Of course, they are not going to have enough energy to perform at their best, leading them to feel depressed because they lack confidence and energy. When getting enough sleep, we wake up happier and feel good about ourselves and want to take care of our body. It is clear that sleep is important for the health of the entire body. When we feel good, we tend to look good. Some might argue that the later school time would affect students and family members because they say that if we start later, students will be at school even longer, and they won’t be done with school activities or sports till later in the day. But they do not understand the bigger picture, and that it is okay if they get home late because they will still benefit from sleep and parents can move their time for other after school activities or plans, change is a part of life, so this will teach students to change and adapt to life.

They have also pointed out that waking up early will teach students life skills. They claim that some jobs require them to wake up early; you can’t always choose the time you want to work. Again, they are not understanding how sleep is more important than life skills right now. Students’ brains are still developing, so they require more sleep than grown adults. And even nowadays, jobs and expectations are changing dramatically, so flexible working hours have become a norm for our generation. Sleep deprivation is a major problem facing many grade school students. Starting later in the morning will improve student performance in school because students will be more alert and able to earn better grades and push themselves to perform at a higher level. It will also decrease absences. A later time can also help with decreasing obesity and other health problems often associated with a lack of sleep.It will allow drivers to be more alert and decrease the number of accidents due to drowsy driving. while some parents or officials believe starting school later would cause problems with sports schedules and extracurricular activity, they are not understanding that sleep actually improves sports teams and their attitudes towards school and their peers building a stronger bond.

Critical Analysis of the Article “Later Schools Start Time Reduced Depressive Symptoms’

Getting a full night’s sleep is essential to any student’s mental health and academic performance. Starting class around seven causes students to feel tired and unmotivated which negatively impacts their performance not only at school but in after school activities such as sports. Schools must delay start times because it improves mental health and boosts student’s academic success. In the article “Later schools start time reduced depressive symptoms,” Mary Ann proves that later start times are linked with improved mental health. In the article “Let them hit snooze: starting schools later can lead to increased academic performance, improved mental health, and fewer car crashes,” Saara Myrene Raappana states that studies indicate that later start times increased students’ test scores and allow students to drive more safely. Some people, on the other hand, believe changing start times will worsen traffic, as Rosenberg and Monaco explain in the article “Should high school students have a later start to the school day?” Ultimately, the positive outcomes of starting school later such as having improved mental health and academic success outweigh any negatives.

Most importantly, changing the school start time to a later hour has been proven to benefit students’ school performance. Raappana asserts how “Numerous studies have shown that children with impaired or irregular sleep perform more poorly on tests and have lower grades than those who get ample zs.” This evidence demonstrates just one of the many benefits that proper sleep can provide. Getting enough sleep is crucial to have enough energy and motivation to do schoolwork, socialize, or to participate in sports. Without the right amount of motivation, work may not be done properly which can negatively affect one’s grades and lower their GPA. Raappana also argues that “During puberty, teenagers’ brains release melatonin- the ‘sleep’ hormone later in the day, which means they are unlikely to feel drowsy until 11 P.M. or later.” Due to this, many teenagers find difficulty in falling asleep early, causing them to go to bed late. With such an early start time, it is nearly impossible to get the recommended eight hours of sleep. This causes certain students to be drowsier and less attentive than they would be if they had slept more, which harms how they carry out their school tasks. Pushing the school start time back by an hour or two would lead to higher scores and benefit nearly every student.

Furthermore, not only will test scores rise if school start times are delayed, but mental health has been shown to improve too. Moon provides this statistic “After school start time was delayed, the percentage of students who rated themselves as at least somewhat unhappy or depressed decreased significantly from 66% to 45% as did the percentage who reported feeling irritated or annoyed much of the time (from 84% to 63%).” This is compelling evidence because there is a huge number of students who became more mentally stable when getting the right amount of sleep. Being stable is necessary in order to live a healthier lifestyle. If every school made the decision to delay start times, there would be a substantial drop in the number of students reporting depressive symptoms. Rosenberg acknowledges that “With sleep needs of about nine hours per night, and a sleep clock in the brain naturally geared toward staying up later, early school start times are a major contributing factor to chronic sleep deprivation in adolescents.” This is important because chronic sleep deprivation can put a person at greater risk for depression and can change one’s mood drastically. Students are not getting enough sleep and it is causing anger and irritability and lessening their ability to cope with stress. Due to this, schools must delay start times in order to improve the mental health of the many students lacking sleep.

Conversely, people believe delaying school start times will make traffic even worse. Monaco proposes “Later start times would put more buses on the roads closer to the rush hour, exacerbating traffic.” This claim is misleading because allowing students to drive at a later time when they have more energy and alertness will cause fewer accidents, which will increase everyone’s safety and lessen traffic. Moreover, Raappana proclaims how “Some parents prefer early start times that allow them to drop their children off at school before work.” This is an obstacle that could easily be overcome with a variety of solutions, such as public transport, carpooling, or even walking. School start times must be pushed back to provide students with more safety and prevent further car accidents that happen due to fatigue and lack of attentiveness in the early morning.

All things considered, schools should start later due to the apparent benefits it provides, such as better performance academically and improved mental health. There are statistics proving the rise in test scores and the decrease of depressive symptoms due to starting school at a later hour. A student’s safety is also something that must be taken into consideration. Driving while tired is a huge cause for concern and more car accidents are bound to happen. Plenty of lives will change for the better once school start times are delayed and there is no better time to start than now.

Argumentative Essay on Starting School Later: Influence on After-school Activities

The California Legislative Information alleges that the new California Senate Bill No. 328, permits high schools to begin academics no earlier than 8:30 am, furthermore, it requires middle schools to commence no earlier than 8:00 am. The repercussions from this settlement will be extensive for the California school districts. Currently, Benicia High School begins at 8:00 am, and the Benicia Middle School starts at 8:30 am. The principal of Benicia High, Mrs. Kleinschmidt, shared with me that Benicia High School has been starting at 8:00 am for over 25 years. There is an interminable list of issues that will arise with this bill. Some include parents stressing with the burden of dropping their kids off later and arriving to work at a specific time. This will also restrict after-school activities to begin later in the day. Another concern that emerges is rotating the middle and elementary school start times to comply amongst the high school. Overall, the inconvenience out rules the positives.

One of the issues that come to mind when contemplating this new enactment is parents and transportation. Parents already agonize trying to develop their work agendas around their children. When the state of California forces families to modify their schedule, complications manifest; a household’s schedule must reconstruct. In an article by Leigh-Ann Morgan, she pronounces, “If school districts change start times to 8:00 or 8:30 am, parents will not be able to drive their kids to school and still report to work on time.” (Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times). After questioning two freshmen, Madison Nelson and Kenna Allen, they both assume they will have no way to be at the school on time if courses initiate at 8:30 am. Madison maintains that this will stress her out to find someone to carpool among and feel safe. This is not accommodating to scholars and their families. Public transportation, such as buses, will additionally have prominent adjustments. “School districts that decide to adopt an early start time can save up to 30% on their transportation costs,” ConnectUS claims (15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times). The same study also confirms that when the Lubbock Independent School District updated their start times to undertake before 8:00 am they preserved, “more than $1 million in 2017,” (15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times). Saving money is particularly critical to schools and taxpayers. In a newsletter from Benicia’s Unified School District superintendent, Dr. Charles Young, he brazenly confesses that “Like many districts in our state, we are experiencing a budget challenge,” (Superintendent’s Newsletter). When the schools in California shift to a later commencement time, districts will be dispursing even more money on transportation expenses. This spirals into never-ending debt and causes even higher taxes for the citizens of California. This bill is a malicious idea. Not only will a later schooling time cost higher for transportation, but it will also change the route for pickups. “School districts w[ill] need to delay start times for the elementary schools or invest in hiring additional bus drivers to transport the high school students,” Leigh-Ann Morgan, (Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times). This will engender an ample inconvenience toward the bus drivers and students. Limiting California school’s commencement time to 8:30 am will put a bigger burden on students, parents, and faculty. This bill will be counterproductive.

Another consequential quandary that will arise is the timing of after-school activities. After emailing Mrs. Kleinschmidt about her thoughts on the bill, she informs me that on a regular schedule day, They will dismiss BHS at 3:35 pm when the bill is put into effect. The owner of Tip Tap Toe Performing Arts, Nicole Ceccarelli-Core, reveals, “I will have to change the times for dance class for the older students for later in the evening.” By making dance sessions later, this pressures the students’ day notably further into the evening. Ms.Ceccarelli-Core did humor, “…that an early morning class could be an option.” An early class could be capable of making up for the later night classes. This will cause scholars to rise earlier than they currently do. Early classes will not be practical for students. “Sports schedules can be adjusted sometimes, although the winter months make that a challenge…” declares the editor-in-chief at ConnectUS, (15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times). Outdoor exercises have to make their vigours practice times to comply with the amount of light. Sports practices, such as baseball, will have to begin at the same time because of how dark it gets. This will leave students with less time to handle academics. Another concern is students that have a job and extracurricular activities. These learners are scarcely capable of balancing everything as it is. If they have a limited time after school, this may prompt a decrease in grades or force them to give up one or the other. After emailing a current freshman, Paris Wibbon, she responds; “During softball season I do field prep, so when classes began later I will have to leave right after school, but if the school stays the same I can have time to go home…before going to the field for the rest of the night.” Nicole Ceccarelli-Core addressed that “…the difficulties with high school students getting out later is that doing two activities after school makes it nearly impossible.” Beginning later will supply students with less time overall. I began questioning students whether they want high school to begin earlier and get out earlier or start later and get out later. Out of 15 students from freshman to junior level, every scholar responds saying, that they would rather get out earlier and commence earlier; adding it would provide them more time to get things done. This demonstrates how starting school later will cause a debacle with after-school activities.

Not only will moving the opening times present issues at the high school level, but it will additionally generate difficulties at the lower grades. Since Benicia is a minuscule town, school times have to be separated because of traffic issues. “We will need to adjust [drop-off times] as well to address parent drop-off and city traffic flow,” states Dr. Charles Young. Benicia Middle School, Benicia High School, and Mary Farmar Elementary School are all within a 1.5-mile gamut of each other. It is not permissible to have the schools start within a 5-minute period of one another. Dr. Chales Young informs me that Benicia Middle School will interchange times with Benicia High School. Two middle school students, Coleton Pult and Carson Smith say they will not go to bed any earlier but will get up earlier in the morning. This implies they will be losing sleep. High schoolers will be gaining a maximum of 30 minutes of extra rest. These middle schoolers are being held beneath some high schoolers. If times are kept as it is, there will be no disputes. Students at all schools embrace the timing as it is now. The Centers for Disease Control claims that in 2015 the average public school start time was 8:03 am. Benicia High School is right on track with this standard. This reveals how incompetent the bill is. This arrangement should be up to the school districts, not the state. Having to move the other school times around is a hassle and takes sleep away from younger learners.

Although researchers confirm that students are sleep deprived, there are alternative ways to ease this. Students need to be responsible enough to hit the hay at an appropriate time. Parents and guardians need to implement this habit. This may not solve the sleep epidemic, but it can aid students to deduce the importance without disturbing the whole state’s calendar. Madison Nelson tells me about a rule she has in place for herself. “If I do not have my homework done by a certain time, it’s on me, not the school’s schedule, and I go to bed.” Ms. Nelson understands that procrastinating will merely keep her up. People in support of the act say it yields more shut-eye for teachers. After conversing with a History teacher at Benicia High School, Mr. Earp, on whether he will use this later start time to his benefit; he tells me no. He will proceed to report at school at 6:55 am as he currently does. This indicates our teachers will be losing slumber. These people show up every day to challenge the minds of generations to come. They have to deal with numerous types of students, but still, discover a way to create relationships among them. They are mentors, role models, and coaches. They put so much in and get such a limited amount out. Now, they will have more limited time out of school to be beside family and sleep. This bill focuses on sleep; sleep, only for high schoolers. High schoolers are proven to need more sleep than anyone. However, we can not completely disregard the additional ages, older and younger. The California senate turns a blind eye to the chain reaction that will betide when this becomes put in place. This reaction will negatively affect teachers, parents, sports, and whole communities.

This bill will not influence California schools until the 2022-2023 school year. That does not imply it is not appropriate to begin challenging the act. This bill will stress our parents and raise prices for transportation. Sports, clubs, and arts will shift later into the night. Students in lower grades will wake up earlier. It will negatively influence instructors. These 30 minutes are not worth it to the high schoolers. These 30 minutes are not worth it to the middle schoolers. These 30 minutes are not worth it to the parents and teachers. These 30 minutes are an inconvenience. These 30 minutes are like a gnat, a pain in the ass. These 30 minutes throw everything off balance; the balance that has been in place for 25 plus years. There is no reason to mutilate it now. The state of California is wasting their time writing and passing bills that have very sparse effects and importance to the students of its state. California should better satisfy its time trying to tackle the real problems consuming our society. As the general public, we need to get the state to recognize these anxieties and repeal the ineffective bill.

Works Cited

  1. California, Senate. “SB-328 Pupil Attendance: School Start Time.” California Legislative Information, 4 Oct. 2019, 9:00 pm, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB328.
  2. Chief, Editor in. “15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times.” ConnectUS, 18 Sept. 2019, connectusfund.org/15-major-pros-and-cons-of-early-school-start-times.
  3. “English Honors Essay Questions.” Received by Brianna Kleinschmidt, English Honors Essay Questions, 11 Feb. 2020.
  4. “English Honors Essay Questions.” Received by Dr. Charles F. Young, English Honors Essay Questions, 11 Feb. 2020.
  5. Morgan, Leigh Ann. “Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times.” Later School Times, 2012, www.everettsd.org/cms/lib07/WA01920133/Centricity/Domain/2847/Later%20School%20Times.pdf.
  6. Received by Kenna R. Allen, 10 Feb. 2020.
  7. Received by Madison M. Nelson, 10 Feb. 2020.
  8. Received by Paris Wibbon, 10 Feb. 2020.
  9. “Riley Pult Interview Questions.” Received by Nicole Ceccarelli-Core, Riley Pult Interview Questions, 5 Feb. 2020.
  10. “Schools Still Start Too Early.” Despite Proven Benefits, Starting School Later Remains a ‘Tough Sell,’ Centers For Disease Control, 2015, neatoday.org/2015/09/20/despite-proven-benefits-starting-school-later-is-still-a-tough-sell/.
  11. Walker, Tim. “Despite Proven Benefits, Starting School Later Remains a ‘Tough Sell’.” NEA Today, 23 Nov. 2015, neatoday.org/2015/09/20/despite-proven-benefits-starting-school-later-is-still-a-tough-sell/.
  12. Young, Dr. Charles F. “BHS Latest News.” Benicia High School, 22 Nov. 2017, bhs.beniciaunified.org/2017/11/22/superintendents-newsletter/.

Essay on Starting School Later: Arguments for Starting School at 7.30

We are Group 1 and we believe that the school day should not start later than 7:30 a.m because of the negative impacts it has on after-school activities, health, and transportation. First, in our experience with after-school activities, we’ve noticed a negative impact on students who have jobs and play sports. Additionally, teachers were equally impacted. Second, in our research, we found that there is a health risk associated with having school start at a later time. Third, we present the subject of transportation; schools save money and time by starting school at 7:30.

As we mentioned earlier, our experiences have shown that there is a negative impact on students who have jobs or play sports. The National Sleep Foundation stated, “This issue is important for certain students and families who rely on that extra income to get by.” If the school day is started at a later time, kids that have jobs to provide extra support for their family will be placed into jeopardy because they won’t make it to work on time since school would get out later. Moreover, from our experience with being released from school at 4:30 in middle school, it caused our practices to get out later. Instead of the regular 5:30, practices were extended to at least 6:30 to 7:00 o’clock. This caused us to have less time for homework, eating, and even showering. Similarly, teachers will also be impacted. According to www.education.seattlepi.com. “Many teachers have become accustomed to ending their days in the early afternoon, and some may have chosen their profession so they could spend more time with their children and afternoon activities.” Additionally, www.qreview.qps.org, states that “Teachers have families will be getting out later too. Teachers may find it stressful to balance a home life, teach, and maintain a social life.” This proves that not only would the students’ lives will be affected, but the teachers’ as well.

Secondly, starting school later leads to many risks associated with students’ health. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, “Most teens are getting the 9 ½ hours of sleep recommended by doctors by starting the school day at 7:30. Late evening sports, longer hours of homework, and going later to part-time jobs can all interfere with a good night’s sleep.” Since a later bedtime would be in place due to a later release time from school, many kids would be missing out on quality hours of sleep recommended by doctors across the United States. Furthermore, according to www.verywellfamily.com, “Teens may stay up later if they don’t have to wake up for school at an earlier time. “Staying up later leads to sleep deprivation as well as other sleep-related issues. As quoted from the 2006 survey from the National Sleep Foundation, “Teenagers are the least likely of any age group to be getting sufficient rest.” Not enough rest can lead to suicide amongst teens. “Sleep disturbances predict increased risk for suicidal symptoms”, as proved by a study from Stanford University. Therefore, the school day should not be started later than 7:30 due to the effects it would have on health.

Finally, another important thing to remember about the impact that a later start time has is the transportation. From personal experience, we’ve noticed how later school days delay bus routes. Many bus routes are scheduled to be completed by a certain period of time. According to www.everettsd.org, “School districts would need to delay start times for elementary schools or invest in hiring additional bus drivers to transport highschool students.” This represents how costly it would be to extend the day in regards to transportation, as well as the disadvantage it would cause. Furthermore, parent work schedules will be impacted due to them having to pick their kids up at later times. This plays a major role in transportation. As stated by www.qreview.qps.org, “If school districts change start time to 8:00 or 8:30, parents will not be able to drive their kids to school and still get to work on time.” Additionally, schools save over 30% of money on transportation by starting school at 7:30, as quoted by the National Sleep Foundation. Starting school at a later time than 7:30 has negative impacts on transportation.

In the end, school should not start after 7:30 a.m. due to after-school activities, longer day and longer start times would affect both teachers and students in a variety of ways. From sports to jobs, to even personal life and overall well-being. Next, health is taken into consideration. Later start times lead to longer days, which consequently leads to later bedtimes. Suicide and sleep deprivation rates are both at risk of escalation by allowing the school day to start at a later time. Above all, there is transportation. Other schools, bus routes, and parents will all fall victim if this change is made. Why cause all of this commotion? We are Group 1 and we believe that school should not start later than 7:30.

Works Cited

  1. Anderson, M. “The Negative Effects of Extending School Days” 2019. Retrieved from https://education.seattlepi.com/negative-effects-extending-school-days-1755.html. Accessed 27 September 2019
  2. Hoover, Emily. “Why School Should Not Start Later” 2019. Retrieved from https://qreview.qps.org/3172/uncategorized/why-school-should-not-start-later/ Accessed 28 September 2019
  3. Morin, Amy. “The Pros and Cons of Starting School Later” 2019. Retrieved from https://verywellfamily.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-starting-school-later-2609565 Accessed 30 September 2019
  4. Morgan, Leigh A. “Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times” 2009. Retrieved from https://everettsd.org/cms/lib07/WA01920133/Centricity/Domain/2847/Later%20School%20Times.pdf. Accessed 25 September 2019
  5. National Sleep Foundation. “School Start and Sleep” 2019.
  6. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/school-start-time-and-sleep Accessed 27 September 2019
  7. Stanford Medicine. “Sleep disturbances predict increased risk for suicidal symptoms, study bgfinds”
  8. Retrieved by https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/06/sleep-disturbance-predict-increased-risk-for-suicidal-symptoms.html. Accessed 30 September 2019

Analytical Essay on Starting School Later: Impact on National Economy

During school hours, everyone usually lazily gets to class, and sometimes, if they’re late when the door closes, have to get a tardy slip in the office. However, I believe prolonged sleeping hours before school starts will lead to a greater beneficial relationship between both the school and students. Not only that, preventions and reductions could also occur once schools take notice of the situation at hand. Here are some reasons why.

It is no surprise kids aren’t getting enough sleep each night. In fact, almost three out of every four students in the grades 9 to 12 of a high school, aren’t getting the minimum sleep of eight hours that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends. This alone is mostly responsible for a broad set of problems such as tardies and full detentions to grades and test scores being lower than usual from impaired memory by a lack of sleep. Red Bluffs High School’s new implementations to improve attendance can reflect this. Mood and emotional problems are also bound to appear sometime. For those who drive cars to school, sleeping late makes it much more likely to fall asleep when waiting for a stoplight. Chronic sleep deprivation may even lead to health factors such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Of course, the obvious answer is to create a set period of time for the student to stop what they are doing and go to sleep so they can wake up early for school. However, it isn’t that simple. After puberty, kids aren’t as awake in the morning as they were before. In fact, they are almost structured to sleep later due to how the brain reacts to light. This is amplified by the creation of smartphones and other technology that hinders sleep. A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that during 2017, 43 percent of high-school students spend their time on computers and video games for longer than 3 hours on school days. Social media doesn’t help with its marketing toward young adolescent teens. Ultimately, all of this culminates to less sleep hours and more dangerous situations. This can truly be called a problem and one that may affect schools all over the country.

This leads to how to solve this. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended for middle and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30. The results of a multitude of schools following this recommendation has led to more sleep, higher attendance, improving grades, and a significant reduction in car accidents. Considering Red Bluff High School’s difficult-to-drive streets, this could very well help to prevent future car crashes from staff and students alike. Not only that, a estimation conducted by the RAND Corporation indicates starting school later would contribute to at least $83 billion to the national economy within a decade by improving educational outcomes and reduced car crashes. The Brookings Institute also calculates that an average increase in lifetime earnings of $17,500 would appear if school started later.

In the end, starting school later would be much more beneficial for our area, and seeing the full library with detention kids may also make you want to wonder if starting school might be a good idea.

Should School Start Later Essay

How much money you would pay to save the life of a loved one? How much to save the life of a friend? How much to save the life of someone in your school? How much to save someone you don’t even know? Keep these answers in mind. You are asleep for one-third of your entire life. Sleep is one of the most vital and necessary functions of our body. Getting the proper amount of sleep is so important to your health and for your body to recover from the day’s activities. Such a vital function is performed by all living creatures that inhabit the earth. However, humans are the only species of animal that purposely deprive themselves of sleep. 85% of teens don’t get the recommended amount of sleep on a night-to-night basis. School start times should be delayed in order to significantly benefit teen development, school function, and overall health/safety of teens.

It is extremely necessary that teens get between 8-10 hours of sleep on a regular basis. In teens, melatonin is released around 11 pm on average, which is an hour later than in adults. Melatonin helps your body know when it’s time to sleep and wake up. In theory, this means that the earliest a teen can fall asleep is 11 pm. Start times at Nyack are 7:30 am which would give us 8.5 hours of sleep if we went to bed at exactly 11 and slept until the first bell. Knowing this information, you can infer that the school isn’t giving us enough time to get our necessary sleep. Add hours of homework, sports, extracurriculars, and work to the mix and teens are anywhere from 1-5 hours sleep deprived on a daily basis. Now, just how big of a deal is sleep deprivation? Our bodies require long periods of sleep in order to restore and rejuvenate, grow muscle, repair tissue, and synthesize hormones. Sleep helps to fuel your brain and your body. Teens need more sleep because their bodies and minds are growing quickly. According to sleep professionals, “A lot of action takes place in teenage brains due to their developmental stage. There are major changes to thinking, emotions, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Shifts in the balance between brain systems create a period where teens may take increased risks or engage in more reward seeking. Adding inadequate sleep time to the picture can cause many implications and alter the development process negatively” (Hall 1). The worst part of the situation is that it’s not even the teens’ fault they are sleep deprived. Total control over the issue lies solely in the hands of the school district. The school can blame video games, youtube, and netflix for the lost sleep all they want, but in reality, they’re not even giving us enough time to sleep in the first place.

The benefits of adequate sleep reach further than just teen development, it has been proven that later start times lead to better grades, better moods, and better focus among students. Schools across the country have experimented with delayed start times, and in almost all cases they saw a major improvement in grades as well as attendance. Hingham Public schools in Massachusetts moved their start times from 7:20 to 8 a.m. and saw improvements in academic performance and attendance. Nauset regional high moved back start times and saw “instantaneous results, according to the report, including fewer failing grades and suspensions.” A “school district in Washington state shifted start times” and reported that students were much “happier” (McNamara). The overwhelmingly positive results of delayed start times shouldn’t be a surprise. The science behind sleep and how important it is to our body says it all. Getting a good night of sleep benefits us during every aspect of our day. It especially affects our mood throughout the day. “The incidence of depression among teens significantly rises with less than nine hours of sleep. Around half of the teens who sleep four hours or less per night feel sad and hopeless, compared to just 19 percent of their well-rested peers” (Wahlstrom). Just this one adjustment of start times could significantly help those struggling with depression and other mental illnesses. “A recent review identified an increased risk for suicide, being overweight, high rates of injury, poor sustained attention and low school grades for teens sleeping less than eight hours” (Hall). It’s hard for a sleep-deprived person to focus their attention and learn. Sleep also affects learning by repeating patterns and information while you are asleep. This is vital to retaining information and memorizing.

Despite the extremely improving grades and overall health of teens, the most important effect of sleep on teens is probably car safety. According to reports, “Most recently, car crash rates for teens in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2013 dropped by 70 percent in the first year the district adopted the start time” (Wahlstrom). When the seatbelt was first implemented in cars it reduced the risk of fatal injuries by 45%. It was considered revolutionary. Now we have a way to decrease car crashes altogether- not just fatal injuries- by 70%. What would this be considered?!? Sleep deprivation impairs your judgment and clarity. On average, drowsy driving kills around the same amount of people yearly as drunk driving. 17 hours without sleep has the same effects as being Impaired on the legally drunk scale (0.05% BAC). If most students are getting insufficient sleep that would mean the good majority are driving to school significantly impaired and at huge risk. Drunk driving deaths are always a tragedy but how about drowsy driving deaths caused by high school arrogance are even worse? The choice is out of our hands. Our delicate and precious lives are being risked by the school.

A common argument for changing school start times is the negative effect on sports schedules, extracurriculars, work, and increased transportation costs. The biggest concern by most districts is the cost, “a 2011 study by the Brookings institute estimated that delaying school start times would increase the transportation cost per student by about $1,950 for the duration of the school year” (School Start Times). The main argument against IMPROVING grades and SAVING kids’ lives is cost. Think back to the opening question, was any of your answers greater than $1,950, I would bet on it. It’s flabbergasting to me to even consider that someone would argue against improved grades and saving the lives of children, who are the future of this world. Sports practice is deemed extremely important to a teen’s athletic future. If the school’s start times change then practice might have to be shorter or later in order to make up for the lost time. This could negatively affect the teen’s future and add more stress to their life. However, this claim is irrelevant because in truth “Practice does not make perfect, practice with a night of sleep is what makes perfect because you come back the next day and you are 20-30% better in terms of skilled performance than where you were at the end of your practice session the day before.” – Matthew Walker. Depriving yourself of sleep in order to practice is actually more negative than not practicing at all.

I understand that even after reading this, the district probably won’t change the start times because frankly, they are scared of change. So I suggest that nyack moves their start time back half an hour to 8 a.m. (which is the national average for start times) and decrease homework to compensate for not moving back the full hour. Or the district makes the obvious choice and moves the start times back at least an hour. The science behind the move is there, the statistics are there, and the reasons are there. It’s not a hard choice at all. It’s not like Nyack will be the first school to have class on mars. Schools all across the country have already made the move and in almost every case benefitted. Did I also mention that low-income students saw the greatest improvements in attendance, and grades out of all of the students that were in schools that switched?