Essay on Starting School Later: Arguments for Starting School at 7.30

We are Group 1 and we believe that the school day should not start later than 7:30 a.m because of the negative impacts it has on after-school activities, health, and transportation. First, in our experience with after-school activities, we’ve noticed a negative impact on students who have jobs and play sports. Additionally, teachers were equally impacted. Second, in our research, we found that there is a health risk associated with having school start at a later time. Third, we present the subject of transportation; schools save money and time by starting school at 7:30.

As we mentioned earlier, our experiences have shown that there is a negative impact on students who have jobs or play sports. The National Sleep Foundation stated, “This issue is important for certain students and families who rely on that extra income to get by.” If the school day is started at a later time, kids that have jobs to provide extra support for their family will be placed into jeopardy because they won’t make it to work on time since school would get out later. Moreover, from our experience with being released from school at 4:30 in middle school, it caused our practices to get out later. Instead of the regular 5:30, practices were extended to at least 6:30 to 7:00 o’clock. This caused us to have less time for homework, eating, and even showering. Similarly, teachers will also be impacted. According to www.education.seattlepi.com. “Many teachers have become accustomed to ending their days in the early afternoon, and some may have chosen their profession so they could spend more time with their children and afternoon activities.” Additionally, www.qreview.qps.org, states that “Teachers have families will be getting out later too. Teachers may find it stressful to balance a home life, teach, and maintain a social life.” This proves that not only would the students’ lives will be affected, but the teachers’ as well.

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Secondly, starting school later leads to many risks associated with students’ health. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, “Most teens are getting the 9 ½ hours of sleep recommended by doctors by starting the school day at 7:30. Late evening sports, longer hours of homework, and going later to part-time jobs can all interfere with a good night’s sleep.” Since a later bedtime would be in place due to a later release time from school, many kids would be missing out on quality hours of sleep recommended by doctors across the United States. Furthermore, according to www.verywellfamily.com, “Teens may stay up later if they don’t have to wake up for school at an earlier time. “Staying up later leads to sleep deprivation as well as other sleep-related issues. As quoted from the 2006 survey from the National Sleep Foundation, “Teenagers are the least likely of any age group to be getting sufficient rest.” Not enough rest can lead to suicide amongst teens. “Sleep disturbances predict increased risk for suicidal symptoms”, as proved by a study from Stanford University. Therefore, the school day should not be started later than 7:30 due to the effects it would have on health.

Finally, another important thing to remember about the impact that a later start time has is the transportation. From personal experience, we’ve noticed how later school days delay bus routes. Many bus routes are scheduled to be completed by a certain period of time. According to www.everettsd.org, “School districts would need to delay start times for elementary schools or invest in hiring additional bus drivers to transport highschool students.” This represents how costly it would be to extend the day in regards to transportation, as well as the disadvantage it would cause. Furthermore, parent work schedules will be impacted due to them having to pick their kids up at later times. This plays a major role in transportation. As stated by www.qreview.qps.org, “If school districts change start time to 8:00 or 8:30, parents will not be able to drive their kids to school and still get to work on time.” Additionally, schools save over 30% of money on transportation by starting school at 7:30, as quoted by the National Sleep Foundation. Starting school at a later time than 7:30 has negative impacts on transportation.

In the end, school should not start after 7:30 a.m. due to after-school activities, longer day and longer start times would affect both teachers and students in a variety of ways. From sports to jobs, to even personal life and overall well-being. Next, health is taken into consideration. Later start times lead to longer days, which consequently leads to later bedtimes. Suicide and sleep deprivation rates are both at risk of escalation by allowing the school day to start at a later time. Above all, there is transportation. Other schools, bus routes, and parents will all fall victim if this change is made. Why cause all of this commotion? We are Group 1 and we believe that school should not start later than 7:30.

Works Cited

1. Anderson, M. “The Negative Effects of Extending School Days” 2019. Retrieved from https://education.seattlepi.com/negative-effects-extending-school-days-1755.html. Accessed 27 September 2019
2. Hoover, Emily. “Why School Should Not Start Later” 2019. Retrieved from https://qreview.qps.org/3172/uncategorized/why-school-should-not-start-later/ Accessed 28 September 2019
3. Morin, Amy. “The Pros and Cons of Starting School Later” 2019. Retrieved from https://verywellfamily.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-starting-school-later-2609565 Accessed 30 September 2019
4. Morgan, Leigh A. “Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times” 2009. Retrieved from https://everettsd.org/cms/lib07/WA01920133/Centricity/Domain/2847/Later%20School%20Times.pdf. Accessed 25 September 2019
5. National Sleep Foundation. “School Start and Sleep” 2019.
6. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/school-start-time-and-sleep Accessed 27 September 2019
7. Stanford Medicine. “Sleep disturbances predict increased risk for suicidal symptoms, study bgfinds”
8. Retrieved by https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/06/sleep-disturbance-predict-increased-risk-for-suicidal-symptoms.html. Accessed 30 September 2019