Coffman1

Abby Coffman

Pd 1

Comp 1

3/24/17

Alarm Set For 6;30

"Sleep isnt a priority for teenagers, and it typically isnt made one by parents or schools."
Jodi Mindell

High school students are known for staying up late and sleeping until noon on the

weekends. This is not because we are lazy and are not motivated, as most parents think. This is

because during the week, we do not get enough sleep due to early school start times. Teens need

about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best. Most teens do not get enough sleep

one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights, says The

National Sleep Foundation. Most schools start between 7:00 am and 8:00 am, which cuts off the

average amount of sleep per student to a mere 7 hours. If school were to start between 9:00 am

and 10:00 am, this would give students more sleep to be more prepared for the school day. Not

only does later start times give students the benefits they need, but it also gives more time for

city services to tend to the weather and reduce the amount of school closings and delays. On

another note, student-involved car accidents, due to weather conditions would decrease as well.

Starting school later would give students more energy in the morning therefore improving

academics, and it would avoid weather delays.

To begin, later school start time gives the plows and other city trucks more time to get out

and a get the roads in the prime conditions for students and buses to drive on. Currently, northern
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Pennsylvania and most of New York have lost multiple days of education due to being

unprepared for brumal weather conditions. Although these conditions are more drastic compared

to normal unexpected weather, more time in the morning to plow and salt the roads would

decrease unnecessary delays and cancellations. Over 673,000 people are killed in weather related

accidents each year and traveling students fall into this study as well. School districts should not

want to be held responsible when a school bus carrying, on average, 35 students, is involved in

an accident due to slippery roads (Sleepy). Everyone has spent time in the morning scraping their

cars, shoveling their way out the door and attempting to make it to work or school on time even

the roads haven't been touched. They are covered in snow and underneath, a sheet of ice from the

night before and as you try to see out your frosty windshield, snow is blowing in your face just as

fast as you are driving, which in this case probably isnt very fast.1 Relating to this topic, teens

should not be driving to school, whether the roads are clear or not, if they are fatigued from sleep

deprivation. Driving while not fully rested is just as dangerous as driving with snow or ice on the

roads and students do this every day. Waking up late and rushing to get ready and get out the

door is a common event for most students who drive to school. This means getting in a car and

driving not even 20 minutes after opening your eyes. Research says that the body takes over 30

minutes to be fully awake and working at an optimum pace. Starting the school day earlier may

lead to more car accidents involving teens."(Sleepy) How would you feel if you were a parent,

sending your groggy teenager off to school and suddenly you get a call that they have been in an

accident and are in critical condition after falling asleep at the wheel? Students lives are just as

important as academics when it comes to the districts responsibilities.2

1 Hypotyposis-Hypotyposis is a vivid description of a scene

2 Simile-A simile is comparing two things using like or as

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On the other hand, although most parents are for later school start times, due to safety and

the benefits toward their children, some are against for scheduling reasons. Parents who take

their kids to school in the same trip as them going to work would have to adjust their schedules.

This can be solved by a helpful system called busing. Every student, no matter what, has a

guaranteed ride to school provided by the school district. On the other hand, at the end of the

day, some parents would not be able to pick up their children later, which can also be solved by

school busing. Not to mention that the school could create after school programs for those who

would absolutely need to remain at the school, after school hours.

Districts may try to argue that starting at a later start time means pushing all

extracurriculars to later times as well. This is not relevant because most after school activities

already go past the recommended bedtime. If students did not have to worry about getting to bed

in order to get up at 6, then they could be out past 8 and not have to worry as much about getting

home. For example, if a student has practice until 8 at night and they have to get up at 6, they

will only be getting at most 7 hours of sleep. With changes made to their schedule, they could get

home at 8 and not have to wake up until 8 and achieve the necessary ten hours of sleep. 3

One of the most crucial aspects of a successful education is focus. In order to focus,

students need sleep. In order to sleep, students need more time.4 As stated above, students need

up to 10 hours of sleep to be able to work at their full potential. This would push back their

bedtime to approximately 8 pm. I myself, as a student athlete, knows that basketball and baseball

practices go to 8:30 pm. Not to mention, other extracurricular activities such as sporting events

and clubs, going past this limit too. Asking a teenager to be in bed and sleeping by 8, after

3 Logos- Logos is appealing to logic

4 Anaphora- anaphora is the repetition of a phrase for emphasis

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factoring in paid employment, school work, sports practices, family obligations, volunteer

services and clubs is nearly impossible. A study done by investigators shows that when a group

of school students start time was delayed by only 45 minutes, giving them only 45 more minutes

of sleep, the percentage of students getting less than 7 hours of sleep each night, decreased by

74.9 percent compared to an earlier study(Backgrounder). Having to get out of bed and go to

school when your body is not fully rested, the adolescent body says it is still the middle of the

night, and he or she has had too little sleep to feel fully rested and alert. With the pressure put on

high school students to perform well by their school districts, they do not enforce the necessary

requirements to do so. Delaying the school start time by one hour increased standardized test

scores by 2%(Do). This doesnt seem like much, until a student is failing a class by 1% and

theyre doing anything to bring it up. The number one way to improve test scores is better focus,

which is hard to do when a student is slumped over, drooling at their desk trying to catch up on

their sleep from the night before because they were up all night studying (High). Academics are

not the only factors of high school that are generously affected by lack of sleep. Athletics, mood,

reaction time and memory are all major as well. Every student has been a victim of sitting down

at their desk to take a test and suddenly forgetting the six formulas, they spent all night

memorizing. Adding to this, mood is important too. A negative mood makes students less

obligated to perform well with no motivation.

In conclusion, there are several things to support why school should start later and there

are some things to support why it should remain where it is now. School students are pushed to

perform well past expectations, but are not given the proper preparation to do so in the area of

sleep. School start times are too early for students to get the right amount of sleep in order to

have enough to make it to school safely and have the proper motivation to do well. Starting
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school later would give students more energy in the morning, avoid weather delays and

cancellations and improve academics. This would allow students to have a safe high school

career and to go on and have a successful future.

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Work Cited

"Backgrounder: Later School Start Times." National Sleep Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar.

2017.

Burke, Michael G. "Later school start time improves teens' sleep and mood." Contemporary

Pediatrics, Sept. 2010, p. 37. Student Resources in

Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A456679281/SUIC?u=pl1949&xid=edaa6d9e.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2017.

"Do Schools Begin Too Early?" Education Next. N.p., 25 Dec. 2016. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

"High Schools Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens." Morning Edition, 18 Jan. 2007. Student

Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A157851816/SUIC?

u=pl1949&xid=f0c4a94d. Accessed 17 Mar. 2017.

Thorner, James. "Parents protest later start time at school." St. Petersburg Times [St. Petersburg,

FL], 4 June 2003, p. 1. Student Resources in

Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A102775278/SUIC?u=pl1949&xid=465f4ebf.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2017.