Why School Should Start Later
School is the last place a teenager wants to be at. No one likes to wake up at the crack of dawn every morning sit in a desk for seven hours, and learn the facts of life. School is probably the only word that can make any kid cringe at, but recent researchers have learned that having a later school start time can improve major problems students are having. Including, stress, sleep deprivation, mood swings, harmful behavior, and academic skills. In a report it says, ¨ Delaying school start times by one hour improves standardized test scores by at least two percentile, one in math and the other in reading.¨(“ Do Schools begin too early”).
Research shows that kids who get more sleep on school nights automatically improve in all their classes. Even though, it may not seem like kids can improve in just one night, sleep can heal anything, kids that do not get enough sleep during the school year have a good chance of having, depression, attention-deficit, hyperactivity-disorder, …show more content…
sleep apnea etc. In a document it states, “getting more sleep will cut stress levels, mood swings and harmful behaviors in students.” (Excessive sleepiness in adolescents and young adults”). Delaying the school start by just one hour can allow the students to get maybe an extra 30 minutes to sleep so they will be ready to learn when they get to the school and they will not be too sleepy to listen to the teacher.
Sleep is not the only thing that can improve with starting the school day later that usually.Research proves academic skills go up majorly when the times are pushed back instead of forward.
In a report it says, “later start times are associated with reduced television viewing, and increased time spent on homework.” Delaying start times by an hour, increases standardized test by 2 percentile.” (“Do schools begin too early”). It will do everybody good if school boards meet and really discuss how this could help their district. Take, for instance, the case of Wake County, they are the 16th largest school district in the United States with over 146,687 students in all the grades. Wake county has three start times the high school starts at 7:30am, middle school at 8:15am, elementary at 9:15am. The start time change was mentioned and decided by the school board and the transportation department. The changed start times at Wake county has worked for a long time.(“ Do schools begin too
early”).
Many parents and school board members are against the changing start times, they believe that changing the start times will change the transportation in the mornings and it will cause problems for sports and activities. Even though, it will mess up the drop off pick up process by the parents and kids that are in sports will not get home till after dark. For example, if band kids have a two hour practice and they do not get out of school till four o’clock, band kids will not get home till 6 or 7 o’clock at night. Moreover, getting enough sleep, and doing better in school are more important than parents and sports freaking out about dropping off kids or staying late. It is not the end of the world.
In conclusion, school starting times would be better if they were later in the morning. As said before, starting later could help sleeping disorders, mood behaviors, academic levels, and many others. Students will just have to continue and bring up how much better they would learn stuff if they started later.
Research shows that kids who get more sleep on school nights automatically improve in all their classes. Even though, it may not seem like kids can improve in just one night, sleep can heal anything, kids that do not get enough sleep during the school year have a good chance of having, depression, attention-deficit, hyperactivity-disorder, …show more content…
sleep apnea etc. In a document it states, “getting more sleep will cut stress levels, mood swings and harmful behaviors in students.” (Excessive sleepiness in adolescents and young adults”). Delaying the school start by just one hour can allow the students to get maybe an extra 30 minutes to sleep so they will be ready to learn when they get to the school and they will not be too sleepy to listen to the teacher.
Sleep is not the only thing that can improve with starting the school day later that usually.Research proves academic skills go up majorly when the times are pushed back instead of forward.
In a report it says, “later start times are associated with reduced television viewing, and increased time spent on homework.” Delaying start times by an hour, increases standardized test by 2 percentile.” (“Do schools begin too early”). It will do everybody good if school boards meet and really discuss how this could help their district. Take, for instance, the case of Wake County, they are the 16th largest school district in the United States with over 146,687 students in all the grades. Wake county has three start times the high school starts at 7:30am, middle school at 8:15am, elementary at 9:15am. The start time change was mentioned and decided by the school board and the transportation department. The changed start times at Wake county has worked for a long time.(“ Do schools begin too
early”).
Many parents and school board members are against the changing start times, they believe that changing the start times will change the transportation in the mornings and it will cause problems for sports and activities. Even though, it will mess up the drop off pick up process by the parents and kids that are in sports will not get home till after dark. For example, if band kids have a two hour practice and they do not get out of school till four o’clock, band kids will not get home till 6 or 7 o’clock at night. Moreover, getting enough sleep, and doing better in school are more important than parents and sports freaking out about dropping off kids or staying late. It is not the end of the world.
In conclusion, school starting times would be better if they were later in the morning. As said before, starting later could help sleeping disorders, mood behaviors, academic levels, and many others. Students will just have to continue and bring up how much better they would learn stuff if they started later.