Should School Start Later?

Schools across our country start at different times, some early and some later. Is there a start time that is better than others? 

According to nces.ed.gov, the latest average start time for high schools is in D.C. at 8:41 a.m., and the earliest is at 7:30 a.m. in Louisiana. Massachusetts lies between with an average start time of 7:38 a.m.

Some people believe that school should start later in the day. Below are some advantages and disadvantages of both start times.

According to nih.gov, an early start time, which they deemed to be before 8:30 a.m., is a key contributor to sleep insufficiency and circadian rhythm interruption. Students need 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep every night, and early start times can prevent that from occurring.

Another downside to a lack of sleep is that your grades can slip. Many studies have shown that there is an association between academic achievement and decreased sleep duration.

According to nhtsa.gov, schools with later start times also experience fewer teen driver motor accidents because teens are no longer driving tired.

Another benefit of a later start time is that students tend to be more focused and in a better mood, states masterofartsinteaching.net.

It was also observed that a later start time resulted in fewer tardies by students, according to economic.nd.edu.

Although many students would prefer a later start, there are also some drawbacks.

A later start will affect after-school sports activities. Since students would get out of school later, practice would start later. Some teams would run out of sunlight, especially in the winter, making practice much more difficult.

Transportation may also be an issue because we share buses with the elementary school. The buses can not pick up all the students in the district at the same time. Some may say that we just push the start of elementary school by the same amount of time. Although that would be nice, that would cause many scheduling conflicts for parents who work and have kids who are too young to be left at home alone in the morning.

Transportation is not only a problem for the elementary students, but also for the middle and high school students. With a later start, students who need to be driven in will likely not be able to because their parents will already be at work.

Regarding sleep, a later start may not be as beneficial as some may think. The later start time may result in students staying up later, meaning it does not improve their sleep duration.

Whatever your opinion on the issue is, there is no easy answer to this complex issue. Both sides have advantages and disadvantages.