Persuasive Essay On Later School Start Times

1182 Words5 Pages

Later School Start Times “‘I’ve gained an hour of sleep,’ she said. ‘I definitely feel a lot better. I find myself waking up around 7:30 without an alarm because it’s a natural time. It’s a great, great feeling.’” Says Lily Grey Rudges, a high school student in Seattle(At these schools, later start times get an A-plus for youths needing more sleep). Furthermore, the average school hours for high school students in the US is 7:30am-3pm. This time does not include any extracurricular activities that students take part in. In most cases, students attend the same classes all day, everyday. The school day in the United States should start later in the day because it benefits adolescents' health, increases students' attention in-class, and students …show more content…

According to Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom in a Public School District in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when school times were changed to start later results of her studies showed that 9th-11th graders attendance increased, grades improved, and decreased depression rates reported by students(Should High School Students Have a Later Start to the School Day?). This illustrates that with schools starting later in the day, students will have more time in the mornings to prepare for classes. This means less tardy students and “fewer dropouts''. The kids will have more time to debrief before school starts again. They will have more time to sleep which will improve their grades(attention). In the book “Should the School Day Start Later?'', it says “They have a hard time focusing on tasks and remembering facts for tests. If the school day started later, students would be able to get more rest”(Lawrence, 16). So, it is easy to understand the importance of later start times because more sleep leads to better concentration. When students have a better concentration and focus on the lesson, they have high test and assignment scores. With times being pushed later students can get the recommended amount of sleep for their age(8-10 hours each night). Clearly, when school starts later into the day, it has a very positive effect on the students attending the