Early School Start Time In High School

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What are the Ideal School Start Times for High School? Why? Early high school start times, along with the small amount of sleep students receive, has infuriated students and parents in the United States. As students get older, they learn more challenging concepts and obtain more work. What sense does it make to give students with more work, less time? The amount of homework given to high school students by teachers and county course curriculums is tremendous. But the fact that they are also forced to wake up early and work hard in order to meet the high standards of teachers as well, is unacceptable and cruel. Teenagers should have enough time to participate in extracurricular activities, finish their homework, and have at least eight hours…show more content…
Mental health is a debating topic in the United States right now especially with teenagers. In recent studies, inadequate sleep due to early school start times is connected to “depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation” (Wheaton). Early school start times causes students to become more depressed due to the stress they receive from the overload of content in school. Some students become so depressed to the point where they consider suicide. Many more illnesses are caused by early school start times. Depression along side with a “bipolar disorder are considered to have a bidirectional causal influence with sleep” (Impact of Impact 6). The lack of sleep and early school start times both cause students to be bipolar meaning they can have changes in mood suddenly. Students may be depressed one moment and then be excited the next for no apparent reason. High school students not receiving enough sleep can cause serious and life changing illnesses that will make them more stressed and even worsen their illness. Early school start times are shown to contribute to the rising issue of mental health in…show more content…
As students get older, they receive more homework but they also have the ability to drive to school if they have their license. Researchers have proven that “lower quality sleep has been shown to be associated with higher prevalence of self reported accidents among teen drivers” (Impact 6). Although high school students are able to drive, early school start times have made driving to school a hazard. Students are involved in more accidents due to their poor sleeping habits. Car accidents caused by early school start times can be very dangerous and can even be fatal to student drivers. Additionally, later school start times are much more safe because “reactions times improve in students who have had more sleep” (Impact 6). Students are found to have more awareness when they receive the right amount of sleep. Sleep allows high school students to have more energy in the morning to know their surroundings and drive carefully and safely to school. The safety of students with later school start times can be proved due to a study that found out “adolescent automobile accidents occured at a higher rate in a city which had an earlier high school start time than its neighboring, but demographically similar city” (Vorona et al., 2011). Studies have shown how school start times can simply save students from severe injuries or even death from motor vehicle accidents. Students should be able to

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