Nguyen 1

Katelynn Nguyen
Ms. Dadabhoy
English Honors 2
15 January 2015
Word Count: 646
Should Schools Start Later?
Major debates are circling on whether school should start later or stay as it is. The issue
has been prevailing in numerous school systems around the country for several years. Students
are overcome by lassitude from sleep deprivation and therefore fall asleep in class, show lack of
positive behavior and/or are tardy to class. Recent studies have shown that starting school at a
later time can allow students to do well in school, have a decrease in emotional health and
prevent the risks of having a defect in physical health. Starting schools later may be the answer
to students getting sufficient sleep so they can thrive both mentally and physically.
Statistics show schools that start later than 8:30, have an improvement in academic
performance and decreases in tardiness, depression, and anxiety. Researchers surveyed St. Louis
Park High School, Mahtomedi High School, Woodbury High School and the data showed that
starting school one hour later led to average gains of 1.5 to 3 percentile points in standardized
math reading test scores. Furthermore, tests administered to high school sophomores showed
“[...t]he benefits of a later start time in middle school appear to persist through at least the 10th
grade” (Edwards).
Teenagers wake up too early and do not obtain enough sleep, which can then lead to
problems. A teenager needs around 8 1/2-10 hours of sleep according to the CDC and on average
about 70 percent of teens get 6 hours of sleep. Many high school students are tired to the point
that few stay awake in their first class if it is before 8 am. “The result is that the first class of the
morning is often a waste, with as many as 28 percent of students falling asleep, according to a
National Sleep Foundation poll”(Kalish). When a student lacks the right amount of hours to
sleep one or two nights in a row it affects their ability to learn, pay attention, cope with stress,
and retain information. An experiment, conducted by Dr. Mary A. Carskadon of Brown
University, found that more mature adolescents had later circadian rhythm timing, based on
melatonin​ secretions in saliva samples. Her research shows that melatonin secretion occurs at a
later time in adolescents as they continue to mature; thus, it makes it more difficult for them to
go to sleep earlier at night. The melatonin secretion also turns off later in the morning, which
makes it harder to wake up early in the morning. The amount of sleep a student obtains affects
their behavior during school.
“Young people who do not get enough sleep night after night carry a significant risk for
automobile crashes;[...]and health complaints [...]” (Danner & Phillips). Some students are so
tired they don’t show up, leading dropout and failure rates to go up. Regarding safety issues,
when students are depleted of their energy, they tend to fall asleep behind the wheel and this
subject has increased the amount of road accidents and air traffic mishaps in the United States
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according to Harvard University. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, high blood
pressure as well as affecting a person’s metabolism and cardiovascular health. Not only does
lack of sleep contribute to one’s behavior throughout the day, it affects one’s health as well.
The problem of being sleep deprived is encountered not only in the United States but
similar research has been found all over the world including Brazil, Italy and Israel (Saminsky).
Therefore, the issue on students not getting enough sleep is biological, rather than a “cultural
phenomenon.” Researchers and doctors regard the matter -whether or not school should start
later -exhort their concern as to the lack of sleep from many teens. This goes to show that sleep is
very important and schools should take care of this serious topic by extending the start of school
to 8:30.
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Works Cited

"A. Academic Performance." ​The Impact of School Start Times on Adolescent Health and

Academic Performance​. 13 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 Jan. 2016.

"Backgrounder: Later School Start Times." ​Later School Start Times: Benefits & Cons​. Web. 15

Jan. 2016.

"Getting Enough Sleep Is No Easy Task for Today's Students." ​RSS​. Student Pulse, 2010. Web.

15 Jan. 2015.

"Late Start times Benefit High School Students." ​Discover​. Web. 15 Jan. 2016.

"Later Start to School Boosts Teens' Health." ​The Wall Street Journal​. The Wall Street Journal, 6

July 2010. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

Richmond, Emily. "Why School Should Start Later in the Morning." ​The Atlantic​. Atlantic Media

Company, 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 15 Jan. 2016.

"What's the Big Deal?" ​Start School Later​. Web. 15 Jan. 2016.