Could Beginning the School Day After 8 a.m. Make a Difference in Students’ Productivity?

Sleep is one thing teenagers can all agree that they find valuable. New studies have found that school should start later because adolescents need a sufficient amount of sleep to function.

You may think teens just need to go to bed earlier, but according to The Sacramento Bee, “research also shows that it’s difficult for children, especially teenagers, to fall asleep before 11 p.m.” This is why starting school at a later time makes sense.

My English teacher, Ms. Drabman, used to work at a school that began at 10 a.m. “Everyone was happier all around,” exclaimed Ms. Drabman. Because she was happier she exhibited more energy, which her students absorbed.

Now that she is in a school that begins at 8:00 am, she notices a difference in energy. Everybody appears more tired, making it harder to get the attention of her students and teach effectively.

Not only would starting school later benefit the students, but it would save schools money. According to the Los Angeles Times, In states such as California where state funding for schools is tied to attendance, it follows that later start times could translate into extra dollars because the attendance rate would be higher.

In addition to saving money, standardized test scores and grades of students increase when school days start later. The lowest scoring students have seen the biggest increase. However, despite all of the benefits of starting later, it means the school day would finish later. A later day would cut into extracurricular activities and sports.

These activities would not start later because of regulations of keeping students out too late, but instead students would miss their classes at the end of the day. Although this presents a new issue, the less sleep student athletes get, the more likely they are to get injured.

Starting school at a later time benefits their health, as well. With the stress teens undergo with the pressure of school, not enough sleep puts them at a high risk of depression and drug abuse.

Sleep deprivation is never positive when it comes to health and learning. Therefore, starting school even just an hour later could make all the difference in a student’s character.