Kevin Dolan

English

20 December 2022

Professor Ferrara

Time to Wake-Up

Perhaps the most dreaded sound to most high school students is the sound of their alarm.

Always too early and always too loud. It is a highly debated issue whether the school day should

start later. Many high schools start too early, often prior to eight o’clock in the morning. Many

experts argue that most teenagers are sleep deprived and that not only impacts their academic

success but their overall health. Lack of sleep for teenagers can lead to serious health problems

and even depression. A later start time would allow for teenagers to get more sleep and be able

to focus more on the classroom, as opposed to nodding off at their desk. Critics argue that a later

start time, would impact after school activities and family time. However, a later start time

would benefit both; teens would have more energy because they would be well rested and there

would be less arguing in the morning when parents struggle to wake their tired teenager. Starting

school even an hour later would allow teenagers to get the sleep they need and it would greatly

benefit their academic success as well as their general health and well-being.

As a student, I can attest to how difficult it was waking up every morning at five

forty-five to be in the classroom by seven o’clock in the morning. I often slept right through my

alarm, no matter how loud it was. My mother often would have to physically wake me up.

Upon arriving at school six forty-five a.m., I witnessed many careless car accidents in the student

parking lot. Many students were rushing and just completely unaware of their surroundings.

During my morning classes, fellow students fell asleep at their desk on a daily basis, often
missing an entire lesson. Teenagers need more sleep; an extra hour sleep could make a huge

difference. Research shows that teenagers with early start times get less sleep. According to a

survey published in American Journal of Public Health, “shorter weekday sleep duration among

adolescents with earlier school start times… school start time may be

a modifiable, structural influence on adolescent sleep.” Pushing back

the start time of school can only benefit teenagers. The survey also

“indicated other benefits associated with later start times, including

mood, school attendance rates, academic achievement, and motor vehicle crash rates.” Delaying

the start time of school would help teenagers achieve optimal sleep resulting in improved

academic performance and a healthier well-being.

It is time we make a change! There are too many teenagers that are not getting enough

sleep. We must delay the start time of our schools to ensure our teenagers get enough sleep.

Don’t we want to help our teenagers be the best they can be? They need to get more sleep; sleep

deprivation leads to both overall health and mental problems. In a study by the International

Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health “studies linking inadequate sleep to

increased risk of mental and emotional disfunction, depressive symptomology, poor academic

performance, and a wide variety of risky behaviors.” The only thing we can do for our teenagers

is delay the start of the school day to ensure they get enough sleep to benefit their physical and

mental health. Delaying the start of the school day allows for teenagers to optimize their

duration of sleep which will in turn make them more alert in school and more able to learn.

The evidence is clear our teenagers are not getting enough sleep and our schools are still

starting too early as can be seen in the two graphics below published by the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention. The American Academy of Pediatrics “supports middle and high
schools adopting delayed start times (that is, no earlier than 8:30 a.m.) to allow teens to get the

recommended hours of sleep a night (eight to 10)” (Sifferlin). Dr. Judith Owens, director of

sleep medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital states “There’s also really compelling data

supporting the fact that delaying school start times is a very important intervention that can

mitigate some of the impact of sleep loss, suggesting if schools make the switch now, there’s

time to prevent some of those negative outcomes. Even a half-hour delay, some studies showed,

can have dramatic effects on improving children’s health and academic performance” (Sifferlin).

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan argues “A later start to the school day could help boost

students’ academic performance and reduce tardiness and absenteeism” (Sifferlin). In 2014, the

University of Minnesota released a study that examined data from more than nine thousand high

school students. “The study found that attendance and academic performance in math, English,

science and social studies improved at schools with later start times, while tardiness, substance

abuse, and symptoms of depression declined” (Walter).  The facts are clear and experts agree

delaying the start of the school day will only enhance a student’s performance in the classroom

and lead to improved mental and physical health.

Today’s teenagers are completely overscheduled. To remain completive and be able to

get into a good college many teenagers take a full course load of honors and AP classes and in

addition participate in many extracurricular activities. Often, they leave their house for school
before six-thirty in the morning and don’t return home until after six o’clock in the evening.

Now, they still must shower, eat dinner, and start their homework. It is not likely that any

teenager will settle down and get to bed before nine o’clock to ensure they get the recommended

minimum of eight hours of sleep. That is why pushing back the start of the school day would

benefit so many and we need to make the change now.

Having heard from many experts I conducted my own survey right here at Fairfield to see

what fellow students thought. I surveyed twenty-five fellow freshman students to see if they

thought schools should start later and if they have ever felt sleep deprived. An overwhelming

majority felt they had been negatively impacted by lack of sleep and believed a delayed start

time would be beneficial. As seen in the charts below, 80% of them felt that a delayed start time

in school would enhance their ability to focus on school. In addition, 90% of students polled felt

that lack of sleep has impacted their ability to focus. Once again, the results are clear and the

Fairfield freshman agreed with experts, teenagers need more sleep and the best way to help them

achieve that goal is to delay the start time of school.

critics argue that it would be disruptive to afterschool activities, family time and be an economic

burden for local school districts. The attached NBC News clip examines why many schools are

not switching to a later start time. Among the reasons cited for not switching were less time for

sports practice and afterschool jobs, the disruption it would cause to family schedules, and lastly

it would also be very costly for school districts because they would have to transport their entire

district at the same time. Many argue changing the start time of schools is not that easy because it

impacts everyone not just the students. “Look at how changing schedules affects everyone. It's

not just the students. It's teachers, bus drivers, everyone at school, and especially parents”

(Walker). Changing the start time of schools is not as easy as one would think because it has a far

reaching impact on everyone. Another issue behavioral economist Ziporyn of Start School

Later found is “People don’t want to be told that they’re hurting their children” (Fattal). Parents

should not look at this as a critique, they should realize delaying the start time of school would

benefit their child immensely and they should want that for their child.
NBC NEWS CDC (Video Provided)

It is evident that teenagers today do not get enough sleep. The only thing we can do to

help them achieve this goal is to delay the start time of schools. Changing schools to a later start

time would be beneficial to all students. Students would be able to focus more, and it would lead

to a healthier physical and mental well-being. The goal should be to allow all teenagers to be the

best version of themselves and more sleep and a delayed start time in school would allow them

to accomplish that goal.

Holt, Lestor. “CDC Says Give Them a Rest: Kids Start Their School Day Too Early.”

NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 3 Dec. 2022,

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/cdc-says-give-them-a-rest--kids-start-their-school

-day-too-early-499974723604.

Paksarian, Diana,PhD., M.P.H., Rudolph, Kara E, PhD,M.P.H., M.H.S., He, J., M.Sc, &

Merikangas, K. R., PhD. (2015). School start time and adolescent sleep patterns: Results from

the US national comorbidity survey-adolescent supplement. American Journal of Public

Health, 105(7), 1351-1357. Retrieved from

https://libdb.fairfield.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/school-start-ti

me-adolescent-sleep-patterns/docview/1687619614/se-2

Neuroth, L. M., Ma, M., Brooks-Russell, A., & Zhu, M. (2021). The relationship of school start

times, sleep duration and mental health among a representative sample of high school students in

colorado, 2019. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11),

5708. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115708
Walensky, Rochelle. “Sleep and Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 May 2019,

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/sleep.htm.

. Walker, Tim. “Despite Proven Benefits, Starting School Later Remains a 'Tough Sell'.” NEA,

https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/despite-proven-benefits-starting-scho

ol-later-remains-tough-sell.

Sifferlin, Alexandra. “When Sleep and School Don't Mix.” Time, Time, May 2017,

https://time.com/when-sleep-and-school-dont-mix/.

Fattal, Isabel. “Why Are Parents Afraid of Later School Start Times?” The Atlantic, Atlantic

Media Company, 14 Nov. 2017,

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/11/why-are-parents-afraid-of-later-school-st

art-times/545642/.