Early Start Times In High School

Hitting the alarm clock, students rise before the sun is up to prepare to be put into a learning environment and are expected to achieve high academic standards. According to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study, data from the US Department of Education displayed that in 2011 and 2012, around 1 in 5 schools began at 8:30 ("Schools Start Too Early"). These early start times endanger students sleeping schedules, as reported by The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that middle schools and high school students should receive about 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep each night ("Schools Start Too Early"). In a study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, that demonstrated how the amount of sleep people receive decreases as children get older, …show more content…
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had found many results from a study that revealed the safety problems that occur because of loss of sleep. “Drowsy drivers cause about 100,000 car accidents a year, with young drivers being present in more than half these accidents” (Mihm). As students are forced to wake up early to prepare for school, also they are forced to drive themselves to school, which involves using brain functioning in order to do so. While these student’s brains are not able to function this early in the morning, this sleep deprivation while driving is very dangerous and is as shown in the quote that creates many problems with safety reasons. In 2008, two schools were compared to display the differences between schools that begin early compared to those that do not. “Virginia Beach high school began at 7:20am, while Chesapeake began at 8:40am. It was shown that Chesapeake had 46.2 crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers compared to 65.4 for 1,000 in Virginia Beach High School- there was a 41% difference” (Holohan). While schools that begin later are providing their students with the ability to rise at reasonable times, they are also giving their students the ability to drive to school in the most safe conditions possible, with the least amount of risks of drowsy drivers. For the amount of car crashes that occur, because of school times being too …show more content…
Others say that school times should change, because the new school times might interfere with after school schedules. While that is their opinion, school times should not be early, as they affect so many aspects of student’s lives. School times should be changed as they will improve more than just the amount of hours students sleep. “ In a 3 year study, using research from over 9,000 students from eight schools showed that after switching to later start school times attendance increased, test scores for standardized testing, performance in basic subjects, tardiness, substance abuse, symptoms of depression, and consumption of caffeinated drinks decreased” (Baker). This shows that as some support that school times should be changed, it is shown that these times being pushed back benefit student’s lives in every