is it better to start school early? or later for high schoolers?

Question

..theres still a big debate going over whether to start school earlier or start school later for teenagers...what do you think? please support what you think....i really would like to hear what youve got to say

Answer 1

Most high schools begin their day around 7:30 a.m., which leaves many teenagers nodding off in the morning. In fact, at least 20 percent of high school students fall asleep in class on a typical day. The problem: Teenagers need a lot of sleep — about nine hours each night, experts say. And most of them aren't getting enough.

To help sleepy teens, some school districts have tried delaying the opening of the high school day. Educational researcher Kyla Wahlstrom, from the University of Minnesota, has been following districts that changed their start times, tracking the effect on schools and students. The Minneapolis school district, for example, changed its start time from 7:20 to 8:40 a.m., giving its 12,000 high schoolers an extra hour and twenty minutes each morning. Wahlstrom says the students have benefited from the change.

"Students reported less depression when there was a later starting time," she says. "And teachers reported that students were more alert and ready for learning. Parents reported that their children were easier to live with because their emotions were more regulated."

Additionally, Wahlstrom found a decrease in the number of students who were dropping out of school or moving from school to school.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 80 school districts around the country have now made the change to start their high schools later. These districts range from large, urban school districts, such as Minneapolis and Denver, to suburban districts, such as Jessamine County in central Kentucky.

In Jessamine County, detailed discussions about starting their high schools later took place over a year and a half. All the stakeholders — parents, teachers, coaches, kids, transportation directors — were included in the conversation. Eventually, a plan emerged: The district decided to flip the elementary school start time with the high school start time. Research shows that young children aren't sleepy in the early morning, unlike the typical teenager.



"We found that our students were more on time and in better attendance first period than they had been in the past," she says.

Answer 2

Here the elementary kids start first, but only by 5 minutes. I would support a late start for high schools anywhere (the research has been going on for a long time and continues to support later start and finish times for high schoolers. No high schooler NEEDS to work (at that age work is a want, not a need) and an hour's difference in sports is no biggie, they already practice in the dark in winter as it is. Learning to get up early because that's what they will do in life is BS too. In college most students choose classes that start late, and many jobs have shifts. My own job starts at 10 am and I often work until 9 p.m. or later, with a long break between. If they kids learn better if they wake up/start school later I'm all for it. They can learn to wake up early when they get out of college and their bodies are better suited to early mornings. Here the problem is transportation. We're in a small district, they run the buses once for all the schools. Elementary, middle and high school students ride together. The elementary starts at 8:05, the high school at 8:10 and the middle school at 8:15, only because that's the most logical route for kid delivery (three schools on one square block, they just go in a circle. If they were to put the high school on a later schedule they'd have to run a second route, which the district can't afford. Oh, also, if I was in a district that started school at 6 am, as a parent I would either move or homeschool my kids. That is ridiculous! That means getting up at 4 or 5 am, and to get 8 hours of sleep (teenagers usually need 10) means going to bed at 8 p.m. which is impossible because many sports and other school events start at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m. I'm often just getting home and starting dinner for the family!

Answer 3

I think a later start is better for teenagers. Yes, life is tough and kids do need to learn that you have to get up early for jobs but, unlike adults in the workforce, people at high school often have to go home and face hours of studying and homework. It's unfair to have that then be up early the next morning, especially since teenagers are still growing and need a good eight to ten hours of sleep.

At the stage of life that people at high school are at, a later start in the morning serves them best. They have plenty of time to get used to early starts when they finish school and head for university or the workforce.

Answer 4

I think the good habit of getting up in the morning should be instilled early. So I think earlier is better. This helps for when you get to college, as you will have to have discipline that requires some long days. Establishing this habit early helps. Then as life goes on and you have a good routine going, you can reward yourself by making adjustments.

Answer 5

LATER!!!!!

Well, I'm in 8th grade-But I'll be in high school next year.

I HATE getting up at 6 AM. I'm surviving on 7 hours of sleep, but sometimes I have to survive on a slittle as 3 hours because I either keep waking up or I can't get myself to go to bed.

Answer 6

later - for some reason teens tend to stay up late, so starting later would be better for them.

Answer 7

SORRY IF I SOUND HARSH ; BUT EARLY, IS WHAT IT SHOULD BE. LIFE IS HARD , IT'S BEST TO GET USE TO IT.