Considering Another Side
Majority of schools in America starts before 8:30 am, some schools even start as early as 7:15 am. Supporters of starting school later in the day claims that moving starting time will reduce car accidents, depressions, and obesity among adolescents. They also believe that starting school later in the day will help students get recommended amount of sleep, which then will assist students on getting better grades and live healthier life. While the claim that getting full amount of sleep (8-10 hours per night for adolescents) will help students stay alert and perform better in school and live overall healthier life seems reasonable. It would be foolish to think that school’s timing is the reason why so many adolescent …show more content…
This is where the supporters of starting school late tend to misunderstand the issue. Most schools start early, which means that students have to wake up early in the morning to get to the school. However, starting schools early does not keep students from going to bed earlier at night. In fact, schools encourage students to sleep early so they could be fully awake and are ready to learn the next morning. Rather, it is students themselves who chooses to stay up late (Lai). They are usually distracted at night because of the technologies, such as smartphones, and social media. For example, take a look at Owen Lanahan, a 15-year-old boy from Portland, Oregon, described in Holson’s New York Times article. Although he is banned from using gadgets after 10 pm, he still stays up late using laptop and DJ box to learn making Hip-Hop beats (Holson). He said that sometimes he posts pictures and tweets at 2 am in the morning just to let his peers know that he is in cool kids’ group (Holson). They even have word for it, vamping, which basically means staying up late at night. There is a pressure form the adolescents’ peers that in order to be seen cool that they have to stay up late. In the same article, she describes a 13-year-old girl, who often uses social media to talk to her friends late at night even though she is not allowed to do so. Since communicating and …show more content…
Starting school late will increase the price of transportation; interfere with athletic and extracurricular activities as well as the academics (Anderson). According 2001 study, majority of administrators said that the reason why they prefer early start is because of extracurricular activities (Anderson). If the schools were to start later, then it would have to end later as well, which means by the time students are finish with the classroom, the daylight would no longer be available. Without daylight, athletes cannot practice their respected sports. For example, John Skinner referenced their (North High School) girl’s golf club, to be able to utilize the daylight; the golf club usually leaves for the game about 15 minutes before the end of last class (Erbacher). If the schools were to end later, then they would miss even more of class time. Currently schools are able to save up to 30 percent of transportation cost by starting some schools early and staggering start times within the districts (Anderson). This method allows drivers to run more than one route at a time, which means few drivers are required (Anderson). Lubbock ISD in Texas and Suffolk Public Schools in Virginia are expected to save up to 1 million a year by using this method (Anderson). While research have found benefits of starting school later in the day,
Majority of schools in America starts before 8:30 am, some schools even start as early as 7:15 am. Supporters of starting school later in the day claims that moving starting time will reduce car accidents, depressions, and obesity among adolescents. They also believe that starting school later in the day will help students get recommended amount of sleep, which then will assist students on getting better grades and live healthier life. While the claim that getting full amount of sleep (8-10 hours per night for adolescents) will help students stay alert and perform better in school and live overall healthier life seems reasonable. It would be foolish to think that school’s timing is the reason why so many adolescent …show more content…
This is where the supporters of starting school late tend to misunderstand the issue. Most schools start early, which means that students have to wake up early in the morning to get to the school. However, starting schools early does not keep students from going to bed earlier at night. In fact, schools encourage students to sleep early so they could be fully awake and are ready to learn the next morning. Rather, it is students themselves who chooses to stay up late (Lai). They are usually distracted at night because of the technologies, such as smartphones, and social media. For example, take a look at Owen Lanahan, a 15-year-old boy from Portland, Oregon, described in Holson’s New York Times article. Although he is banned from using gadgets after 10 pm, he still stays up late using laptop and DJ box to learn making Hip-Hop beats (Holson). He said that sometimes he posts pictures and tweets at 2 am in the morning just to let his peers know that he is in cool kids’ group (Holson). They even have word for it, vamping, which basically means staying up late at night. There is a pressure form the adolescents’ peers that in order to be seen cool that they have to stay up late. In the same article, she describes a 13-year-old girl, who often uses social media to talk to her friends late at night even though she is not allowed to do so. Since communicating and …show more content…
Starting school late will increase the price of transportation; interfere with athletic and extracurricular activities as well as the academics (Anderson). According 2001 study, majority of administrators said that the reason why they prefer early start is because of extracurricular activities (Anderson). If the schools were to start later, then it would have to end later as well, which means by the time students are finish with the classroom, the daylight would no longer be available. Without daylight, athletes cannot practice their respected sports. For example, John Skinner referenced their (North High School) girl’s golf club, to be able to utilize the daylight; the golf club usually leaves for the game about 15 minutes before the end of last class (Erbacher). If the schools were to end later, then they would miss even more of class time. Currently schools are able to save up to 30 percent of transportation cost by starting some schools early and staggering start times within the districts (Anderson). This method allows drivers to run more than one route at a time, which means few drivers are required (Anderson). Lubbock ISD in Texas and Suffolk Public Schools in Virginia are expected to save up to 1 million a year by using this method (Anderson). While research have found benefits of starting school later in the day,