Should High School Start Later?

Julia Ferrara, Reporter


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Do you dread Monday morning. I think I  speak for everyone when I say that waking up to be in class at 7:37 a challenge. Some people wake up as early as 4:30, just to be at school on time. Students can’t pay attention that early in the morning. Schools should start later because it’s way too early to begin learning and for them to obtain the information given to them at that time.

One of the reasons that school should start later is because teens do not get enough sleep according to CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several health risks including overweight, using drugs, and also poor performance in academics. The CDC recommends middle and high schools to start at 8:30 or later to give teens the appropriate amount of sleep. With the amount of homework, and extracurricular activities one might do, there is simply not enough time in the day to get all of it done thus, students working into the late hours of the night and not getting the alloted time of sleep.

Although if high schools indeed intended to start later than 8:30, it would throw off club meetings, sports, and also extra helps time within the school system. Not to mention outside of school extracurricular sports, like a travel team, would also be pushed back later into the evening since school would end later, meeting the minimum requirement of 6 hours of school per day. Though there are other alternatives to sports being pushed back. Practices could be shorter but maybe 4 or 5 times a week, instead of 2 or 3. Starting school later could help with keeping up with homework, giving you more time in the morning to complete assignments. Starting school later may have a few downsides, but they are problems that could easily be solved.

High schools should start later because students need the opportunity to get 8-10 hours of sleep, the average recommendation. This gives students a chance to pay attention more in class, increase their academics, and overall, perform better in their educational studies. With this, students could excel and have more opportunities. Maybe someday we will see high schools change their start time, and hopefully it’s as early as the monday morning alarm.

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