John wakes up every morning at 6:00, showers, eats breakfast, then goes to school, which starts at 7:30. Jane wakes up every morning at 7:30, showers, eats breakfast, and goes to school, which starts at 9:00. The question is, assuming both students take identical classes in schools with identical curriculums, which start time is more beneficial to the student? An earlier start to the day gives more time after-school for extracurricular activities and sports, while a later start helps students to get more sleep, be more aware during the school day, and get better grades in general. While both sides have their positives, and their negatives, one is clearly better than the other.
The average high school student needs approximately 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night. They typically don't get anywhere near this much sleep. Not only does that
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The article advocating for early is what made this obvious. It starts out by admitting the other side has a point (which isn't a bad thing), but it then immediately gets defensive by saying "schools that start early in the day can still excel academically". It claims that, of Montgomery County's 30 schools, the 3 best start at 7:25, without telling us what the other schools start at. Do they all start at 7:25? Do they all start from 7:00 to 7:30? Or do they go from 7:15 to 8:00, which make the 7:25 ones the best. Is it the start time that makes the students there successful, or does it get better funding? The argument needs more information to be considered valid. It claims students would miss less time from school to go to sports, while conveniently overlooking the fact that, if the other schools start later (and it would in no way be a single school changing their time), the same amount of time would be lost. While it does have good points about extracurricular activities, it isn't impossible for students to practice on weekends,