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Argumentative Essay: Why Should Schools Start Later?

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An estimated 40 percent of high schools in the U.S. now have a start time before 8 a.m.; only 15 percent start at 8:30 a.m. or later (Strauss). Students come into school half asleep, not at their full potential to learn. You can tell them to go to bed earlier, but that doesn’t work most of the time. So, why should schools start later? Teenagers are not getting the sleep they need to learn. Students would do better if schools started later in the day. Early start times do not account for the sleep cycle of teenagers. “Teens are among those least likely to get enough sleep; while they need on average 9 ¼ hours of sleep per night for ideal performance, health and brain development, teens average fewer than 7 hours per school night by the end of high school, and most reported feeling tired during the day”, says The Sleep Foundation. Teens need the optimal amount of sleep to perform at their full potential at school or work. If they do not get the sleep they need, they can feel drowsy or lethargic throughout the day. “Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence - meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11 p.m.”, says Strauss. Teenagers have many things keeping them from going to sleep at night, such as after school activities, work, and technology. Teens spend a great …show more content…

“Later start times can mean less missed school — absences dropped 15% in Bonneville County, Idaho, after it instituted such a change, according to a 2014 Children’s National Medical Center report”, says Lisa Lewis. Students will be more alert and awake to their surroundings and be able to comprehend things much faster. This can cause fewer accidents and detentions for sleeping in class. “Repeated studies also show that when the school day starts later and teens get more sleep, both grades and standardized test scores go up”, says Lewis. Better grades equals a better

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If students do their homework earlier and don’t procrastinate, then they will have much more time to sleep. The text “The Impact of Later School Start Times'' says “The average time the students go to sleep is about the same, between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.” These teenagers are going to bed very late and need a lot more sleep than they are getting. Another text titled “Fairfax, Montgomery Officials To Share Experience Delaying School Start Times'' states, “She said many of her friends stay up late procrastinating doing homework and a later school start time gives them more time to sleep.” It is due to procrastination that the students are going to bed late, not homework.

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Having later start times can benefit kids in many ways such as improving their grades. When schools have later start times, students can wake up later and be more awake leading to them being more attentive in class and getting better grades. Researcher Finley Edwards “Found that math scores improved by 2 percentile points and reading scores by 1 point in middle schools that moved to a later start time.” Students might end up being tired in class because they didn't sleep long enough the night before leading to them not learning in class that may result in worse grades that the student is capable. Students grades and staying on task can be improved by having schools start later.

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Early school start times may hurt many youth's development and make it so they may never reach their zenith. Furthermore hormones make teenagers have difficulty waking up early or going to bed early. School starting as early as they are can cause depression and caffeine addictions. This often harms a student's cognitive and physical development and can endanger those around them. Because of this, schools need to move their start time to a few hours later.

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Teenagers need eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep each night to be healthy. (Lewis 1) However, studies by the National Sleep Foundation show that two-thirds of high school students get less than seven hours of sleep per night (Webb 1). Not getting enough sleep can cause health problems such as obesity, depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke (Richmond 1) .Not only that, sleep is necessary to perform important brain functions, so without it, teens may be more depressed, anxious, and moody (Swan 1) .

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Later School Start Times “About 90% of the teens, problem is insufficient sleep” (Dr. Chen), most of the adolescents are suffering of sleep deprived which is unabling them to be healthy and pay attention in class. Many of the schedules that are given in schools are the worst for teens because one one the things they require them to do is to wake up early to attend to the classes. Middle and High School start times should start later because it will benefit students academic growth, and improve health . Starting school times later will make teen have an academic growth. Starting school later could help teens academically because, they would be more attentive to any work or test that comes their way.

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⅖ of students who go to school who start at 8:00 or earlier only get 6 hours or sleep. And ⅔ of students who go to those schools only get 8 hours or sleep (sleepfoundation.org). Teens should get 9-10 hours of sleep per night so that they can do their very best during the day. If we had late start school, then students could do better in school and then that could affect their entire life. Why do schools start early if there are no benefits?

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The American Academy of Sleep Medicine asserts that early school days lead to accidents along the roads, depression among the young teenagers, and upsurge in poor performance academically for middle and high school students. Teens struggle through the challenge of waking up very early in the morning so that they can be at school at the right time. Research implies that teens should get at least eight to nine hours of night sleep for their good health. Various sponsors such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control have the strong advice on why schools should start later. Nevertheless, by being able to sleep more before school starts, students will be able to become well rested, more attentive in classroom settings, and perform better as learners.

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“Letting teenagers sleep later typically means an earlier start for elementary schools, and sets off a cascade of adjustments. Teachers have to change their schedules, times shift for after-school activities and jobs, and older siblings who sit younger ones might no longer get home first” (Source 2). Also, students who participate in sports and extra-curricular activities would also get home much later in the evenings due to later school scheduling. This could even cause problems for parents and teachers.

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Seven hours. That’s the number of hours the average teen gets of sleep each night. You might say that that’s plenty of sleep, but studies show that teenagers need nine to nine and a half hours of sleep a night. That is more than two hours less than a healthy growing teenager needs, but why are teens not getting enough sleep at night? The answer: School.

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This is not good for the body , given that their brains and bodies are still growing. In fact sleep cycles for teens begin at 11pm and continue through 8am, but many children are getting up at 6am an therefor waking themselves up in the middle of deep sleep. More than 10,000 scientist and sleep experts from Academy of Sleep Medicine believe in starting school later (“Teens May Do Better When School Starts Later. ”Time. Time, n.d. Web. 09

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One other reason why school should start later is because it is more convenient. In the first place it’s better for one’s health. In order for your body to grow and develop you have to get enough sleep. If you do not get enough sleep it will lower the immune system and increase one’s chances of getting ill.

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Teenagers need more time to sleep based on the development of their brains. Students should be getting eight to ten hours of sleep in every night (Wahlstrom). Due to the sleep mechanism in teens, research says that the earliest healthy wake

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And it helps students ability to learn. One reason school times should start later is because it will help students catch up on sleep. “Sleep deprivation has become virtually epidemic among American teenagers. Research suggests that adolescents require about 8.5 to 9 hours of sleep, but according to the National Sleep Foundation, only 14% achieve this goal.” said Julie Peorgers from The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter. Not acquiring the recommended amount of sleep can have repercussion of the human body and brain.

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Sleep is beneficial to the growth and development of teens and children. Sleep is necessary for us to survive. Why is it that most students in middle and high school are only obtaining six of the eight to nine hours of sleep that is needed for a teenager? Nearly 40% of students today get under six hours

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On average, teenagers need approximately 9 ¼ hours of sleep for optimal performance (National Sleep Foundation). Therefore, the majority students would have to go to bed before 10 o’clock to have this amount of sleep. Because of the biological clock in their bodies, this is nearly impossible to accomplish. Additionally, many teens are involved in extra curricular clubs, athletics, have a part time job, and hours of homework on top of that. If teenagers are unable to go to bed early, then society must adjust to their needs, and start school later.

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