Should School Start Later?
By Enishk Muruganandam and Parker Hemphill, Grade 6
We and many others believe school should later. School starting later does more than just make students happy. It is very vital to students' mental health, as it can improve their grades, morale, and gives them more social opportunities as everyone is in a better mood. Let me ask you another question: do you use an alarm to wake up? Well most likely you do, as 80% of teens use one and it's probably really early around 6:30, maybe even 6:00 which is way too early. Studies show that a teen waking up at 7 is equal to an adult waking up at 4 in the morning! And, more sleep will let teens be more aware, as most injuries during a person's life will happen in adolescence(car crashes as an example). At this point there's going to be someone who says that teens can just sleep earlier, but the problem with that is the fact that their circadian rhythm A.K.A sleep cycle gets shifted regardless of gender, culture, or geography. In fact by 16 that is the time of most awareness. Well in 1980 90% of schools started at 9:00 when now 80% of schools start at 8:15 and 50% at 7:20.
All of this shows that school starting later is better for all students.
Sources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4u6oOQ77mg
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/school-and-sleep/later-school-start-times
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/features/schools-start-too-early.html