Push Back High School Start Times Essay Example

With school times being pushed back there will be a huge impact on the health, academic performance, and well being of students. School times should be delayed because it will increase the amount of sleep teens get, provide more time for teens to eat breakfast, and lastly improve their academic performance. So schools starting later will have a tremendous effect on students. 

Not a single person can work to the best of their ability when their body is craving sleep. Research proves that if schools started later in the day students are more likely to get a better amount of sleep. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) teens should be getting 8 - 10 hours of sleep each day and most teens are not getting that amount of sleep which in result is going to affect many things in their life. A few being mental and physical health, behavior, attention, memory, as well as learning in general. In the start school later movement article it mentions that not getting the amount of needed sleep can cause tons of problems especially in school. Furthermore that same article also states that children who get enough sleep have better mental and physical health and their behavior, attention and learning are also way better. Added on to that, everyday health states that not getting enough sleep over time may increase the risk of chronic health problems and worst case scenario early death, and in the shorter term not getting enough sleep greatly affects our thinking and memory. So, clearly the more sleep teens get the better their lives will be which will have a great impact on society. So with school times being delayed and sleep hours being increased the health of our teens will drastically benefit.

Without breakfast the human body won't get the energy it needs to start the day off successfully. Many studies have shown that school starting later is important so that teens will have more time to eat breakfast. As stated in ScienceDirect breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Furthermore research from food navigator-usa shows that only 36 percent of high school students eat breakfast daily, as do 50 percent of middle-school students. If you really think about it not a lot of teens are getting that energy that breakfast provides for them so they can start out their day with the fuel their body craves which in result affects how well students are going to be paying attention during school. It will basically be a domino effect leading from one problem to the other. Plus, according to healthyeating.sfgate.com “ Eating a healthy breakfast before starting the school day is linked to improved concentration, better test scores, increased energy, a higher intake of vitamins and minerals, and even a healthier body weight”. And if all that still didn't convince you eatright.org also stated that “Breakfast is an ideal way to energize so there will be no sleeping in class!”. Also with teens eating breakfast in the morning before school they will be in a way better mood because they won't be hungry and complaining all the time. As you can see, eating breakfast before starting the school day is very beneficial for teens and will impact how well their body performs.  So with school starting later teens will have more time to eat breakfast which will improve their academic skills and health in general.    

All students want to get good grades and make their parents proud, but challenging problems like school times can have a bad impact on many teens' performance. Research has shown that as school times were delayed there was an overall improvement in the academic performance of students. As spoken about in the study, published in december of 2018 in the journal Science Advances, starting the school day later was linked to improved academic performance and decreased sleepiness in kids. Moreover everyday health also proved that starting school later has a major effect on the grades of students and has proven for them to be 4.5 percent higher than usual. Plus, that same study from everyday health also stated that “Both tardiness and first-period absences dropped in that school”. Furthermore a new study that was mentioned in sciencenewsforstudents.org used activity trackers worn on the wrist to see how delayed school times affected teens. And it revealed that students slept more, got better grades and missed less days of class. So obviously schools starting later has lots and lots of benefits for students. A big one being is the advancement in their academic performance. So in short starting the school day later is very beneficial for students’ grades and well being. 

Although starting school later has many benefits, some people may argue that it's not a good idea because it will affect after-school activities such as sports. However that's not as big of a problem as it seems and can be worked around very easily by schools simply just pushing back the starting times for after school activities. Most outdoor fields rely on the sun for lighting and in the evening it can get very dark, yet this problem could be solved by schools installing outdoor lighting on their fields. Which could be a little pricey but if the school starts some sort of fund then there will be no problem. And if this all insures the well being of teens then I think it's very much worth it. 

School starting later has many benefits for the health and academic performance of students and will make them a better person mentally and physically. Furthermore, school starting later will have a big impact on the health and educational performance of teenagers. The health of teens is very important so all schools should push back their starting times to ensure that students are going to perform to the best of their capabilities which will improve their grades a whole lot. Furthermore, students will now be in a better mindset because they're more successful and productive. So if all these benefits are ensured by schools just starting a little later than I think it's very much worth the sacrifice.