Does a later start time bring more success?

Does+a+later+start+time+bring+more+success%3F

Zach Jobe, Op-Ed Writer

For students, waking up early for school has always been an issue. They set their alarms, and their parents force them out of bed every morning convinced that this is a necessary part of their lives during the school year. Since ninety percent of high schools and eighty percent of middle schools in the U.S.A start before 8:30 AM most middle to high school students don’t get their recommended nine to ten hours of sleep a night. However, people argue that delaying the start time would just cause students to stay up later but, studies showed that schools that would start twenty-five to sixty minutes later increased as much as seventy-seven minutes of sleep a week.

Personally, I have experienced this by attending a school that started some days at 9:00 AM. I would go to sleep the same time as when I would for days that school started earlier because I was exhausted. It would help me rejuvenate for the rest of the week as well as my change moods so that I performed better on classwork and homework. For teens, feelings are a crucial thing. For example, Forbes states that sleep deprivation can cause mood disorders such as depression, suicidal thinking and a higher propensity for risk-taking. During their teenage years, students are at more risk for these mood swings, so it is essential for students to get as much sleep as possible. If schools start just thirty minutes later, students will increase their sleep enough to reduce their risk for sleep deprivation and cause them to be more concentrated during the school day. Starting school later is vital for the health and safekeeping of students now and generations to come.

 


 

Chen, Tim. “Why School Days Need To Start Later.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 31 Aug. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/chentim/2017/08/31/why-school-days-need-to-start-later/#47ace8923050.