Why We Should Start Later In School

School starting times has been an ongoing debate with no end in sight. Due to early mornings, adolescents have been found to sleep less, and with a hefty majority of young people not getting the necessary amount of sleep, there are many damaging side effects. I believe that the school start time should be pushed back because learning capabilities can be compromised, the body does not respond well on limited sleep, and danger on the road is greatly increased. Many studies have been piloted that demonstrate the benefits of delaying school starting times. Scientists and Researchers have itemized that an estimated six to nine hours of sleep are necessary for a plentiful night’s rest, although, this is not the case for a vast majority of Americans (Fisher np).

Later start times in schools allow students to get more sleep, making them more healthy, productive, and awake. First, sleep is a necessity due to the repairs the body undergoes, so lack of sleep can lead to complications healthwise. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health, “Teenagers require an average of 9.25 hours of sleep per night for brain development, health, and optimal performance” (Alic and Nienstedt 862-867). As mentioned previously, only one out of ten students get an adequate amount of sleep (Troxel). So, those who are not a part of this category run the risk of developing health problems, because they are not allocating enough time for brain development, which occurs during sleep.

The alteration of the school schedule would also decrease productivity in students of all ages. It is exceedingly difficult for teenagers to focus for eight hours at a time, let alone ten. Dr. Iroise Dumontheil, author of research regarding the development of students, declared that it was not due to lack of motivation that students have trouble focusing in school. She stated, “it’s not the fault of teenagers that they can’t concentrate… Adolescents simply don’t have the same mental capacities as an adult” (A. Hill 2010). Accordingly, by asking students to remain in classes for an extra two hours a day, school systems are requesting more devotion from teenagers who cannot focus for lengthy periods of time due to their developing brains.

Many believe that schools should start later because teens are being sleep deprived due to waking up too early. Research corroborates that teenagers ' biological clocks don 't get sleepy until later in the night, and the late sleeping times and the early waking times are causing teens to not get enough sleep which is deleterious to their health. However, if the time were to change to later school start times, it causes a financial problem. It costs millions of dollars to buy more buses, and people rather not use the money on school buses when it could finance another field. Some kids also don 't want later school times, saying it interferes with "after-school jobs, athletics, or other extracurricular activities."

“Research shows that teenagers’ body clocks are set to a schedule that is different from that of younger children or adults. This prevents adolescents from dropping off until 11 p.m.,” (Kalish), with a different sleeping schedule caused by the hormone melatonin, which causes tiredness, it would be beneficial to start school an hour later. If most high school students don’t fall asleep until 11 p.m. and get up at 6:30 a.m., then most students will only get seven and a half hours of sleep, or less if they have to get up earlier because they live further away and have a longer commute. Studies show that after nine hours of sleep adolescents

The great effect of being over fatigue is the decrease in the grades of students. It is very hard for them to concentrate on lectures in the morning when they have used up all their energy at night making school works. As stated in an article by Carpenter (2001): “You can be giving the most stimulating, interesting lectures to sleep deprived kids early in the morning or right after lunch, when they’re at their sleepiest, and the overwhelming drive to sleep replaces any chance of alertness, cognition, memory or understanding”. For sleep deprived individuals, being able to sleep just for a few minutes is a big opportunity to regain back all the lost times to

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. Teenagers need more time to sleep based on the development of their brains.

Sleep Deprivation in Teens “From the time they hit puberty until the age of 22, adolescents need about 9 hours of sleep a night to function optimally—to be physically, mentally and cognitively healthy.” (Juliann Garey 1). There is a huge sleep loss dilemma for teens in America where they aren’t getting enough sleep or tire themselves out too much.While most people know it’s a problem, there have been little to no efforts to actually solve the problem. Teens have many reasons why they have sleep loss, ways that sleep loss affects them, and solutions to lessen or get rid of chronic sleep deprivation. School and other time consuming activities can cause teens to not get enough sleep at night. First off, school, specifically school start times and homework, is probably the biggest reason why teens don’t get enough sleep.

Kids that have activities outside of or after school, get home late enough, along with sometimes loads of homework, and don't get to bed until an unnecessary late time. People don't like having to get up early, even though the day ends shorter when it starts earlier, some people would maybe rather have it the other way around. Skimping on sleep days has become a bad habit for most American children. And for most school-aged kids, 10 and 1/2 hours is ideal. Most kids are going to bed at 10 p.m. or later on school nights making it harder to wake up in the morning let alone trying to stay awake in class, which is why we need to change the times kids need to get up in the morning and leave for school all around the world.

According to article ¨Bright and Early...or Not?¨, ¨ Jatul became interested in a later start time after facing groggy teens at school and at home, after her own kids hit adolescence.¨ If teens start to go to school bad moods, it would affect their learning environment as a result, causing not paying attention in class, getting distracted, and getting lower scores on test then expected. Schools starting earlier would change all of this, kisa would be scoring higher on tests since they have the extra time to get rest. According to ¨Support for sleeping in? Half of parents favor later school start times for teens¨ it states, ¨ ...research shows benefits for adolescents' physical and mental health, including reduced risks of obesity and depression¨. There has been polls that prove that starting school later on in the day will help adolescents physically and mentally.

So many times I have gotten sick because I got up so early and it was cold so I got sick because I didn 't get enough sleep. This isn 't just me who suffer from this, every kid does. Teens need sleep to develop and to be healthy. I have gotten better grades in later classes then early classes because my brain is able to wake up. The other problem with school starting so early, is that