Should School Start Time?

Schools should have later start times, as allowing students to wake up at a later time improves their academic performance, mental health, and physical ability.

Firstly, success in school relies heavily on the fact that students are receiving a healthy amount of sleep. Adolescents require around 9 ¼ hours of sleep a night; however, according to a widespread study run by a pediatric group, students lose around 120 minutes of sleep per week due to school. In fact, many of the students have reported acquiring sleep problems due to the consistent sleepless nights. All students within the study noted that they were less attentive in the morning than they were later in the day, and Martha Hansen, author of the study says that “high school teachers
Due to the fact that consistent sleep deprivation often leads to long-term sleep problems, adolescents from time to time attempt to self-medicate themselves with substances such as alcohol and certain drugs to help them fall asleep easier. These drugs, contrary to common belief, actually prevent sleep and further worsen sleep problems. The dependency for drugs and alcohol in adolescents, especially students, lead to addictions which are factually known to negatively affect one’s life both in and out of school. In order to counter substance abuse, “delaying school start times for adolescents has been proposed as a policy change to address insufficient sleep,” which will for the most part result in the reduction of involvement in risk behaviors (Wheaton). Drug addiction is a door that opens and leads to a dark road more often than not. Students should not need to look to alcohol or drugs in order to receive a good night's sleep; instead, if schools were to begin at a more satiable time, substance abuse would significantly decrease. To summarize, loss of sleep is a major factor toward increasing reliance on drugs and engagement in risky behaviors that also affects students not only mentally but also
People deprived of sleep are often too tired to exercise, burn less calories and may also experience a disruption in their appetite hormones which causes them to be more hungry throughout the day. Young adults are increasingly at risk for becoming overweight if they do not receive enough sleep, which is why studies have recommended that school starts at around 8:30 a.m. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “93% of high schools and 83% of middle schools in the U.S. started before 8:30 a.m.” (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health). With the majority of US schools having early start times, this results in adolescents not receiving enough sleep. The other percent of high schools and middle schools with later start times reported having their students perform better academically, their depression rates lowering and less involvement in risk behaviors. Thus, starting school at a later time will help increase students’ energy throughout the day, benefiting them in other aspects of school and enabling them to be more healthy