Should School Start Later?

We all love our sleep, so maybe a change to the school start time would be beneficial for everyone

Nicole Slinin, Editor

“Ugh! Five more minutes mom!” We’ve all either said this or had the feeling that comes with it. Why?

Because every day, about four million teens, including us, have to get up unethically early to start our morning routines and go to school. Schools all across America expect students to get up as early as six in the morning to go to school and they expect us to be active and ready to learn as soon as we step through the doors. Now, that cant be right!

“When I wake up, I want to punch everyone and everything… because by first period, I’m mostly too tired to function,” said Tiffany Demonte, sophomore, when asked if schools should start later.

According to the American Academy of Pediatricians (APP), teenagers should not be up before 8:30 and only about 15% of schools listen. A lack of sleep for students often leads to physical and mental problems. Lack of sleep also affects student’s attention, so while teachers are trying to pound loads of information into the students’ heads, they are trying to stay conscious enough to listen.

“Waking up at six or seven in the morning is mentally and physically exhausting, and it screws up your sleeping schedule because when you come back from a weekend where most people sleep late, you’re expecting them to completely change,” said fellow student Daniela Denrich.

So, while students try to learn all the information given to them with a lack of sleep, their academic scores will fall. Arguments from parents of teens and health officials have gone to American school societies but most of them are likely to be ignored like spam mail. While some schools listen to the recommendations, only about 15% of schools start at 8:30 am or later and about 40% start earlier then 8.

Studies by the University of Minnesota show that communities who have later starting times ultimately saw an improvement in academic performance, increased attendance and fewer people sleeping in class. So while students groan to their friends about not wanting to be at school and how tired they are, the fact still remains that all those daily complaints could be eliminated by simply pushing back the start of school so that students have enough time to get their beauty rest.

So now that you know the facts, would you agree with the APP’s recommendation to push back the schools start time?