Persuasive Essay: We Should Start School Later

900 Words4 Pages

We Should Start School Later It is 6:00 am, most high school students are either up or waking up and getting ready for school, knowing that they have a bus to catch at 6:40. The kids cannot stay attentive and cannot focus because they were up late studying for that important test and now they are going to have problems focusing and concentrating during school that day. Teens need more sleep. The kids today are not getting enough sleep due to either having to do homework assigned by the teachers or by having to study for tests the next day. “Insufficient sleep affects concentration, mood, and learning. In addition, sleep and mental health are closely linked, and they can both reinforce each other” (Nuse). When teens try to apply themselves, …show more content…

“The CDC’s recommendations come a year after the American Academy of Pediatrics urged schools to adjust start times so more kids would get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of nightly rest. Both the CDC and the pediatricians’ group cited significant risks that come with lack of sleep, including higher rates of obesity and depression and motor-vehicle accidents among teens as well as an overall lower quality of life” (Richmond). Consequently this causes emotional instability as well as other sleep related facts due to teens not being able to get enough sleep. “According to most sleep experts, most adolescents need about 9 hours of sleep per night. Today nearly 2/3 get under 8, and 2/5 get under 6 hours of sleep per night” (School Start Later. Healthy hours). Students are sevearly behind in sleep as they get older and that causes implications as said in the current paragrah as well as I also learned in Health class that chronic sleep loss also contributes to higher depression rates, suicidal ideation, and obesity. Schools starting earlier hurts the children's health. Another reason schools start earlier is because of the bus schedules. The bus times for Metea Valley consist of being picked up around 6:30 to 7:00 am and has their first bell at 7:20 in the morning. Cowlishaw Elementary school students are picked up around 8:10 to 8:30 am with classes starting at 8:40 am. According to Hanover research, those school times should be switched based on the sleep schedules of the kids who go to those