School Start Time

     Depending on age the number of hours of sleep that is required varies, but there is something that does not vary, and that is how much of an impact sleep has on a person. Schools that begin at 7 am deprive students of needed sleep to properly be alert for the day. When a school begins at 7am the students that live at least twenty minutes away have to be awake by 6:00 am so that they can get ready and make it to school on time. Sometimes, students have to wake up even earlier if they want to shower or leave early to avoid getting caught in traffic. What if a student went to bed at 4 am because they had three tests in their AP classes the next day? All of this lack of sleep adds up, and by the time a student gets to school they are not ready to tackle the day, and are most likely going to fall asleep in class.
     Schools are designed to help students learn, but a student is not learning when their head is on their desk and a puddle of drool has developed next to their mouth. Studies have shown that when schools started later 51% of teachers reported less students falling asleep in their class. Sleep deprivation can have detrimental effects on a student’s productivity and alertness. I understand that some adults argue that students just need to go to bed earlier, but things have changed since they went to school. Not only do students have to pack on four AP classes at a time, but they also have to be part of more than just one extracurricular activity for colleges to even consider accepting them. So much emphasis is placed on getting good grades, but that requires studying. Sometimes when all tests are placed on the same day students can be up studying until at least four in the morning, if school started later to at least 9 am they would at least have five hours of sleep instead of just two.
      A later start time does not just increase student alert time, but also affects student happiness. A study that was conducted on two different schools with the only main variable different being the different start time proved that when school starts later there are less student reported depressions. Not only are there less reported depressions, but there is also less students falling asleep in class, higher attendance rate, less student drop outs, and increased test scores. Higher grades on standardized tests are actually good for the school as well. A school gets some of its funding from how well their students are scoring on tests, if the test grades are higher from students being more alert in classes, the school will look better. 96.5% of teachers that teach at schools whose start times have changed to a later time stated that they did not want to go back to the original start time. Changing the schedule not only impacts the students, but the teachers too, and most importantly impacts the school as a whole.
     A different starting time does not just mean students are getting a chance to sleep in. It means students are getting the chance to allow their brain to be fully alert and ready for class. There is no difference between a student who missed first period to get more sleep and a student who is asleep in class. Neither are getting the benefits of what school has to offer, because they are both trying to catch enough z’s to be ready for the rest of the day.

Work Cited:
Jessica, L. T. (2006). Later high school start times a reaction to research. Education Week, 25(28), 5-5,17. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/202774546?accountid=45237
Rosenberg, R., & Monaco, M. (2012). Should high school students have a later start to the school day? American Teacher, 97(2), 3-3. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1124531323?accountid=45237
Wahlstrom, K. (2002). Changing times: Findings from the first longitudinal study of later high school start times. National Association of Secondary School Principals.NASSP Bulletin, 86(633), 3-21. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216016019?accountid=45237