The Benefits Of Later Start Time In High School
There was one thing everyone dreaded about Highschool, the start time. Waking up early to make sure you were ready for the day and being able to catch the bus. High School start times are the reason for so many teens not being able to graduate on time, students grades being low, and the reason for such a low attendance rate. The start time for High School needs to be pushed back later in the morning, this will help kids perform their best during school, make kids so they are present and will help to get more kids to graduate on time. The later start time for High School will truly benefit the students. Several schools have pushed their start time back and the students and schools have made great progression, students have a better chance of
graduating, their grades went up and their were less disciplinary actions that needed to be done.
The study done by Julie Boergers with a Ph.D from Brown University, did research and wrote an article called The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter. The article gives many great examples and reasons why school start times being later in the morning an a beneficial solution. In Boergers research she proves that teens need at least eight and a half hours to nine and a half hours of sleep each night. With teens who play sports or have any other type of commitment it is very hard to get that amount of sleep. Boergers says “70% of adolescents obtain less than eight hours of sleep on a typical weeknight” (Boergers 1). For a highschooler it is very hard to get more than eight hours of sleep a night because of sports, work, homework and any other after school activity. Because of teens not getting enough sleep it is tough for them to have full engagement in classes because of being tired. Being tired in class leads to kids not paying attention which makes them not learn what they are suppose to. If school started at a later time it would help kids get the sleep they need. When teens get enough sleep they would be awake and aware in class, this would lead to kids getting better grades because they would retain the information better, because of this more kids would be likely to graduate. Another big improvment of having a later start time would be the decrease in the dropout rate. This doesn’t only impact high school students. This impacts all of society, As graduation rates improve, teens experience less hardship after graduation, a lower chance of incarceration and a higher chance of career success.
graduating, their grades went up and their were less disciplinary actions that needed to be done.
The study done by Julie Boergers with a Ph.D from Brown University, did research and wrote an article called The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter. The article gives many great examples and reasons why school start times being later in the morning an a beneficial solution. In Boergers research she proves that teens need at least eight and a half hours to nine and a half hours of sleep each night. With teens who play sports or have any other type of commitment it is very hard to get that amount of sleep. Boergers says “70% of adolescents obtain less than eight hours of sleep on a typical weeknight” (Boergers 1). For a highschooler it is very hard to get more than eight hours of sleep a night because of sports, work, homework and any other after school activity. Because of teens not getting enough sleep it is tough for them to have full engagement in classes because of being tired. Being tired in class leads to kids not paying attention which makes them not learn what they are suppose to. If school started at a later time it would help kids get the sleep they need. When teens get enough sleep they would be awake and aware in class, this would lead to kids getting better grades because they would retain the information better, because of this more kids would be likely to graduate. Another big improvment of having a later start time would be the decrease in the dropout rate. This doesn’t only impact high school students. This impacts all of society, As graduation rates improve, teens experience less hardship after graduation, a lower chance of incarceration and a higher chance of career success.