The Pros And Cons Of Later School Start Times

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Sleep deprivation has become a widespread problem, especially among teens. The largest contributing factor is the early school start times that many students face. This starts the seemingly endless cycle of sleep deprivation, which is nearly impossible to escape when one is forced to wake up at the first flush of the morning each day. This issue could be solved for numerous students if schools implemented a later start time for those in middle to upper grades. Because of the demanding, early school start times, students are unable to obtain the hours of sleep that they need. From Among Teens, Sleep Deprivation an Epidemic by Ruthann Richter, the article explains that “teens have a biologic tendency to go to sleep later…” and with current start …show more content…

In Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times by Leigh Ann Morgan, the author informs the reader that “...AAA says that drowsiness contributes to more than 100,000 crashes per year.” Starting later would lessen this amount by ensuring that students have more time to sleep, therefore helping to prevent drowsiness. The main purpose of school is to help students grow in their abilities, however, sleep-deprived students may find this impossible to do so. Sleep Deprivation and Teens: ‘Walking Zombies’ by Valerie Strauss notes that “a mere one-hour nightly loss of sleep was equivalent to the loss of two years of cognitive maturation…” Students are not able to learn and function as well as they would be able to when given enough time for sleep. Some may argue that starting earlier would interfere with parents’ work schedules, as most people drive their children to school in the morning. The main worry is that work start times will overlap with school. This could cause issues, but there are many solutions to this while still preserving a later start time. Parents could consider carpooling, walking or biking to school, as well as taking the bus. In addition to this, many adults have started to work from home over the past few years due to the recent pandemic. Driving their child to school would not interfere with their work day if this is the case. Overall, while certain people could be affected by the change in