Veite 1

Brandon Veite
3/16/2017
Mrs.Cramer
Period 7

The Effects of School Starting Times

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the

world. Nelson Mandela. Education is without a doubt an important part of our

society. And one of the easiest ways to access education is through the public and

private school systems Academic achievement is a priority within these school

districts and, therefore, accommodations should be made in order to increase such

success. One major change that can be made to increase academic performance is

through the establishment of later school start times. The time school starts affects

the way middle-school and high-school students perform in school academically.

Starting school at a later time would boost students academic achievement by

allowing students more sleep, corresponding with their changing circadian rhythms,

and decreasing absences or tardiness.

The most commonly used reason in support for later start times for schools is

that students will get more sleep. It has been determined that individuals of the

adolescent age need 8 to 9 hours of sleep per night in order to fulfill their

bodys needs (FE ). Later school start times will allow for students to continue going

to bed at their typical hours and also gain the sleep they need. Restful nights lead

to higher academic achievement due to your body getting the rest it needed. In

school districts where schools had later start times, students had increased

standardized test scores of about 3 percent on math and reading tests (FE ). This is

a significant increase in academic achievement and can also be cost effective for
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schools that are aiming to meet minimum competency requirements (FE ).

Increased sleep amounts is just one of the many benefits to later school start times.

In contrast, schools would have a difficult setting times for after school

activities and

extracurricular activities.(MT) It is difficult to squeeze academic schedules, sports

events and extra-curricular activities into available daytime hours as is if schools

started later. School students would be at the schools till later hours trying to fit

everything theyve been faced with that school day. Students would go in and get

out later because by law on average the school day is 5-7 hours depending on the

state. School districts would have to change not only their day time school schedule

but every schedule related.

Another important measure involved with allowing adolescents to start school

later is that of being in sync with teens changing circadian rhythms. As children age

and become adolescents, biological changes occur within their bodies as a result of

puberty and hormonal alterations. These biological changes cause the sleep-wake

cycle to shift so that teens do not feel tired in the early hours of the night. The

sleep-wake cycle is directed by the homeostatic drive for sleep a process that

builds during wakefulness and causes tiredness and the circadian rhythm a

function that helps the body determine when it is tired (CC ). Modifications in these

bodily systems cause adolescents to feel tired later in the day, with most teens

feeling tired around 11pm. These late bedtimes do not allow for adequate amounts

of sleep and, thus, decrease academic performance by teens. Both the homeostatic

drive for sleep and the circadian rhythm have intensive influence over learning

abilities ( CC). This circumstance unique to individuals of ages 13 through 17 most

certainly justifies a need for later school start times.

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In comparison, families and students are accustomed to school starting

times. After several years of being in the school district, family schedules have been

set up to revolve around school schedules. Making a major switch to later start

times may pose a challenge for working parents who would have to deal with

additional costs of before and after-school care and transportation and or services.

Adjusting school districts schedules is a controversial issue because there are

various considerations, all legitimate, that come into play. School systems that have

toyed with and adjusted schedules have found beneficial effects for students.

However, making a massive change may be challenging in the face of limited school

budgets and resources.

Furthermore, later school start times have proven to increase consistencies in

student attendance. According to a study by Finley Edwards, the author of Do

Schools Begin Too Early?, later middle and high school start times are associated

with fewer absent and tardy students ( FE). The benefit of lower percentages of

absences is crucial in the advocacy for later start times. Fewer absences means that

more individuals will be present in class to learn the material being taught. This is

an obvious reason for more academic success in school districts that have

implemented later school start times for middle and high-school students.

Moreover, starting school at a later time has also proven to help students in

more ways than academically. Students that start getting enough sleep see

improvements in their alertness, memory, attention, and cognitive processing skills.

Students who continue to go without sleep also have a higher risk of depression and

anxiety, along with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Sleep is a critical part to every

adolescent's academic life. Getting the right amount of sleep is important, but

another thing that is equally as important is maintaining a normal sleep schedule as

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well. Students often sleep in on weekends this should be avoided as much as

possible. Although catching up on some sleep on the weekends can be helpful,

sleeping in until noon on Sunday will make it hard for your teenager to get back on

a school schedule that night.

Students should avoid things that would harm their natural sleep cycles. In

order for you to get the rest that is needed, your body must go through the stages

of sleep or the sleep cycle. You should avoid leaving televisions on overnight as the

noises and light that are shown can affect the quality of sleep you get at night.

Along with other things that would interrupt your sleep such as a cell phone,

computer, games... ect. The way you feel while you're awake depends in part on

what happens while you're sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support

healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. In children and teens,

sleep also helps support growth and development.

On the other hand, Teens may stay up even later if they don't have to wake

for school at an earlier time.(AI) This could be potentially very harmful to a students

education. If students stay up later in the night and exhaust their cognitive

functions students will have a harder time gathering, interpreting, and retaining

information. This will lead to lower test scores, and lower work consistency. Students

who stay up later are less focused and attentive to their tasks at hand. Leaving

students worse off than before the time change.

Students who start the school day later on, are more likely to eat breakfast.

Rather than studetns who have to be to school at an earlier time due to the time

that the school starts. Students who get to eat something healthy at the beginning

of the school day tend to have a smaller amount of mood changes, irritability, more
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concentrated and focused. This allows students to improve them selves by doing

very little. Theses are every day things that can help improve students lives and

these are small things that people tend to overlook.(FE)

In conclusion, Students who get more sleep tend to function better and are

more stable than students who dont get enough sleep. Students are more focused,

on task, and learning more efficiently and effectively. By allowing students to start

the school day at a later time, students would improve by themselves up to 3% if

they were allowed the amount of sleep needed. This is an option that schools should

consider due to the benefits that it might bring. The hard facts have not been

worked out about these cases but in most studies this has been the results.

Work Cited-

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/child-sleep-zzzs/201702/earlier-

school-start-times-elementary-school-students
http://educationnext.org/do-schools-begin-too-early/

http://health.usnews.com/health-care/articles/2017-04-18/early-school-start-
times-tough-on-teens

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/04/18/schools-should-
start-later-prevent-accidents-depression-scientists-say/100573390/

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/08/why-school-should-
start-later/401489/
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https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/school-start-time-and-sleep

https://www.asdk12.org/starttimes/

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sleep-scientists-say-school-
days-should-start-later-180956565/

http://www.startschoollater.net/why-change.html