Schools Should Start Later Essay Example

The lack of sleep that is created from schools starting early can create many problems for the human body and put others in danger too. Most schools in the Unites States have an average start time from 7:30 am to 8:30 am. After a couple hours of research and looking at many websites it has been proven that schools need to start later for the sake of the students. All students have different sleep patterns and when the student’s bedtime is late waking up at 5 or 6 o’clock just isn’t healthy. School starting early can be a cause for sleep deprivation and sleep is key for teenagers. The lack of sleep that is created from schools starting early can create many problems for a person and can put others in danger as well. 

Getting the right amount of sleep in a night is very important. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teens aged from 13 to 18 should regularly sleep from 8 to 10 hours per day for good health. Those who do not meet those requirements may cause some to perform poorly in school. When people go to bed super late, their mind isn’t very focused when they wake up early. When people aren’t focused, they are not taking in everything that they learn in class and information they need for tests or quizzes.  This also means that grades could be dropping because of late bedtimes and early wake ups. Low school grades or the lack of focus in the classroom can be caused by the amount sleep a person gets.  The American Academy of Sleep Medicine also said that during puberty, people become sleepy later at night and need to sleep later in the morning as a result in shifts in biological rhythms. This would explain why a lot of people have trouble going to bed early and why so many people are exhausted during the day.  

A study by Pamela McKeever of Central Connecticut State University and her Colleague Linda Clark found that delaying high school start time to 8:30 a.m. or later can significantly improve graduation and attendance rates. In part of their study, 29 high schools across seven states, compared the attendance and graduation rates before and after changing their start times. The average graduation rate between the schools jumped from 79% to 88%, and the average attendance rate went from 90% to 94%. As we can see from these stats, starting school later has obviously created a positive change in not only student’s perspective about school but possibly about their future. The stats also tell us that with more sleep, students feel better about going to school as they may not be so tired during the day. This should tell schools across the country how important starting later can be to the students and the way they come across school.

Sleep deprivation has been linked to poor academic performance and increased risk of car accidents in teens. Scientists measuring sleepiness have found that sleep deprivation leads to lower alertness and concentration. Sleepiness also impairs our judgment and making decisions is more difficult because we cannot asses’ situations as well and pick the right thing to do. Researchers have suggested that the nerve connections that make our memories are strengthened during our sleep. Because our mindset isn’t completely tired when we do not get the correct amount of sleep it makes the people who get on the road dangerous to themselves and others. Drowsiness alone is almost as dangerous as one driving drunk. People cannot make the split-second decisions that they need to make in order to avoid a collision or stop for someone. Not only does this affect us as drivers but also in the classroom. If someone were to be taking a test and they were really tired their focus and concentration isn’t there. Students need to be focused for a test to receive good grades and if they needed to make some tuff decisions for the test it would be very difficult since they aren’t fully there. Sleep deprivation can be very dangerous and unhealthy for people around us and ourselves. 

Some people might disagree with wanting to start school later. This could be because of complications with work or maybe other activities. Because schools have thought about this, they have had this source of transportation called buses that will pick up the children at a bus stop and take them to school. This will eliminate the need for the parents to have to worry about their child getting to school or who is going to take them. Parents might also think that it will affect tutoring or after school sports/activities which is understandable, but it would only be pushed back about an hour. Lastly, parents can also think that if school starts later, the children will just go to bed later. The typical teen only gets about seven hours of sleep a night and that may be on a good night. Many students are loaded with homework and will get even less sleep than that. Later start times give the students an extra hour of sleep if they are up late finishing assignments that teachers slammed them with. Parents lived a totally different generation than students these days and it’s easier said than done when they say to get to bed earlier. 

Caffeine and drugs are sometimes relied on when people are sleep deprived. When a person is sleep deprived, they need caffeine to keep them awake. In the United States, the average consumption per coffee drinker is about three cups were day. Coffee gives off energy for a person to stay active and do whatever they have to do. People start to use drugs to either help with sleeping or to help them stay awake or focused during the day. Drugs are used so much are started to get abused which causes the user to become a drug addict. At first the drugs were to help the person but as they got addicted it ends up affecting their sleep pattern. Caffeine also gets abused like drugs and almost is one the way people use it. Too much caffeine can give you headaches, migraines, and high blood pressure in some individuals. Sleep is key and when some sleep is taken away from you people have to do what they have to.

The lack of sleep that is created from schools starting early can create many problems for a person and can put others in danger as well. Overall, I think we can tell that schools need to change their start times for the sake of the students and their health. With many different stats and studies, it is just proven at this point that waking up so early isn’t healthy at all. It creates bad habits for us, and some people tend to rely on drugs which can end up killing them. But for what? It’s not worth having the chance of losing students and civilians lives because a child isn’t focused on the road or they overdose all because schools want to end an hour earlier. I think that we can all tell that there is more harm done than good when schools start too early and schools around the United States need to start making some changes.