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Why High School Should Start Later Essay

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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 …show more content…

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,

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For example, a school in Minnesota pushed back its start time from 7:15am to 8:40 am and saw improvements in attendance, academic performance, and student well-being. Similarly, a school in Virginia pushed back its start time from 7:20 am to 8:45am and saw a decrease in student tardiness and an increase in academic achievement. These examples demonstrate that later start times can be successful and beneficial for both students and schools. However, some may argue that early start times prepare students for the "real world" and that they need to learn how to function on limited sleep.

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According to “Should Schools Start Later?” by Junior Scholastic, “A later start, say opponents, also interferes with some teens part time jobs” (Scholastic 21). If schools start later, it would interfere with the teens work schedule. This would then cause the teens to be early on their shift and mess up a lot of people, which could result in them getting fired from their job. If schools stayed to the usual time schedule it would not cause any mix ups or confusion.

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School start time and its effect on students has been an issue that many teachers and parents have argued over for many years. In districts all throughout the country, elementary, middle, and high schools start classes around different times, commonly making high schools begin their classes the earliest. The current standard start time for most schools is between 7-9 am, with some starting even earlier. This day-to-day schedule has been deeply rooted into the mind of many students for as long as they can remember with many believing that any type of change to this schedule would not benefit students or their studies. However, some experts argue that starting school later would have positive effects on both the physical and mental health of

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High school starts at 7:30 in the morning in most places. High school students typically get up an hour before or earlier in order to get ready for the day ahead. High schools should begin classes an hour later so that students may have more rest so they may be more aware and more likely to learn. If school began an hour later this would let students get more sleep, as they would more than likely continue to go to bed at the same time they do currently. “Research shows that teenagers’ body clocks are set to a schedule that is different from that of younger children or adults.

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Benjamin Franklin wrote, ¨Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” However, this saying does not apply to teenagers and the time they start school. High schools should start later for many reasons. Despite the fact that some people may argue that start times may impact student extracurriculars, high schools should start later because it improves grades, reduces health problems, and decreases the risk of teens driving while tired. Some people may think that high schools should not start later because later start times may interfere with student extracurriculars.

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Schools should start later because that way students could get more hours of sleep. Otherwise, students will start to get bad grades in school, there athletic performance might decrease and they would feel different about themselves. Plus health experts recommend that students should get at least nine hours of sleep every night to work their best. Also students are extremely stressed in the morning and have rushing to get to school on time, which causes more stress at school. Imagine this, usually you get 8 hours of sleep every night, but then basketball season starts and you start practicing every night.

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According to School Starts Later: Healthy Hours, “Most teenagers need 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep every night, but two thirds of teens get only seven hours of sleep, which leads to about 33% of teens falling asleep in class.” Let’s place quotes around the numerical facts. Less sleep affects the teen’s education and can lead to bad grades. With less sleep, the students could even flunk a class. If high school classes started at 10:00 a.m. instead of the usual 8:20 a.m., sleeping wouldn’t be an issue.

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In an article on the website parentingteens.about.com it states "Delaying the start time of high schools within a district could pose problems with bus schedules, after school activities, and sporting events. Most districts already have staggered start times for the schools and they report that delaying the high school start time would have a domino effect on all the schools that could

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I think later start times are very good. In the article it states that, "They also improve academic success, attendance, medical health and cut sleep-related car accidents" (NEWSELA). I agree because I hate getting up and then I don 't want to go to school because it is so early.

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Should high school start later, or should the times be the same? Students will most likely agree that school should start later, but parents might think otherwise. Parents of high school students who also have younger students would like their high schooler to be home for their younger kids so they do not have to pay the ridiculous amount money it costs for after-school care. Students would like to go into school later for plenty of reasons. High School should start later because students will get more sleep, be focused, have a better breakfast, and they will be able to stay up late doing homework.

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In a recent survey 100% of students reported that they had been deprived of sleep in their first period class. Later school starting times will enable students to get enough rest, and ensure that they won’t be tired during the school day. More students will show up to school if they are able to reach it during a more accessible hour. Focusing will be much less of a chore if students simply had some extra resting time. Empty stomachs are going to be filled with food every morning so that students can focus more easily.

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According to a Consumer Affairs article “At least once a week 28 percent of High School students fall asleep in school, either doing homework or arriving late because they slept in too late” (“Survey:Teens”). This evidence proves that a later start time can benefit students. A later start time would help kids to deliver in many areas of the classroom. This trial shows kids with an early start time have trouble staying healthy, working in the classroom, and being around others. School should start later because kids are better able to give attention to their teacher, perform better in academics, and have less health problems.

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According to Marie Anderson (n.d.), a school could start certain campuses before others “to save up to 30% on transportation costs” (para.5). This would also help parents that arrive to work early or have long commutes. There are many benefits of early start times for not only students, but for parents and even the school. Even so, there are also decent advantages to having later start times.

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When schools switch to later start times they find huge decrees in unexcused absences and tardiness. They will also see positive student growth with test scores and grades. Finally, there would be a wonderful change in depression and other mental illnesses that are now too common in teens. Starting school later would help increases attendance. When the University of Minnesota conducted a survey that studied schools that started after 8:30 PM, they found that there were a twenty-five percent decreases of unexcused absences.

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Many people argue whether school start times should stay the same or become later in the day. Most students already don't get enough sleep during the night and that can affect their learning experience in school (Wahlstrom). However some positive effects can still come from waking up early in the morning and getting to school around the same time. Although good can come from waking up early in the morning and sleeping in, students still need later school starting times to improve their overall health.

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