Does School Start too Early?

In today's school systems, the amount of sleep a teen gets is not nearly enough in order for them to function properly. The average amount of time a teen needs to sleep is eight to ten hours. How can this be accomplished if teens are so busy? They have plenty of after school obligations, plenty of homework and plenty of studying to do throughout the night, so when do they sleep? Even though a teen has all of these obligations, they still have to wake up early in the morning so the process can repeat itself time and time again. There's a simple solution: start classes at a later time.

I'm sure that most people have heard a student say "it's just too early" when he or she is asked why the class is so quiet. This statement holds much value. Asking a student to pay full attention to the lesson, and comprehend it as well, at such an early hour is a lot to ask. After all, the night before was most likely spent doing homework one may not have truly understood in the first place. However, if school started at a later hour this may no longer be an issue. Instead, the student would be awake and ready to learn to their full capacity. An additional bonus to this would be that the schools would have better attendance among their students.

There have been many studies conducted to support a later start time in schools. For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement that recommended class starts times be delayed to 8:30 am or later. The academy stated that it would align the social schedule to the students biological sleep rhythm. Also, Judith Ownes, leader of the policy statement, was quoted saying that the "research is clear that adolescence who get enough sleep have a reduced risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are less likely to be involved in automobile accidents, and have better grades, higher standardized test scores and an overall better quality of life." This study, and countless others, support the need for later school times.

Another experiment conducted tracked 9,000 high school students in three different states to see how a later start time affected them. The results showed improved grades in math classes, English classes, science classes and social studies classes in schools that started at 8:35 am or later. Studies such as these have prompted schools around the United States to take part in delaying school times.

The natural sleep cycle of a teen puts them in conflict with the start times of school. Instead of waking up on their own, they often need the assistance of an alarm clock or even their parents. But once they wake up it doesn't get any easier. Teens are like zombies in the morning. They walk around slowly, moan and aren't fully attentive. Starting school at a later hour would give them the extra hour or so that they were deprived of and help them to have a more productive day.

In my opinion, a later start time in schools would majorly benefit the students. As a high school student myself, I have experienced the struggle of not getting enough sleep. A majority of my nights have been spent studying and doing homework until I couldn't physically stay awake any longer. Studying may have been easier if I had been able to pay full attention to my teachers lesson in class. However, being so tired from the night before has caused my mind to wander during the lesson. I feel as though a later start time would help my grades and health overall. Just having a few extra hours of sleep makes me feel revived and ready to start my day. Am I the only one? According to studies across the United States I'm not. While writing this post I wondered if Lakeview would consider starting school later. My thoughts? I don't think that they will. However, possibly with time and more studies with positive results, Lakeview would consider making this change.