It’s not easy for most high school students to balance school, extracurricular activities and overall life. Early starting high schools keeps kids yawning and fighting to stay awake in class, contributing to poor school performance. So the question becomes, should MCPS change school start times to make them more appropriate for high school students?
Waking up before seven a.m. to either ride the bus, walk or drive in a car doesn’t allow students to have a lot of energy to stay awake at school, let alone have the ability to learn or concentrate for hours on end. Later school start times would allow students to be better focused, which in turn would allow them to be healthier and have greater performance in general. Researchers at the University of Washington studied high school students before and after a specific class start-time change. They found a link between getting more sleep and better academic performance. Students who took a biology class after the later start time got final grades that were 4.5 percent higher than students who took the class when it started earlier.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that middle and high schools should not start classes before 8:30 a.m. so that school hours would fall within teens’ natural sleep patterns. MCPS has numerous high schools and even middle schools whose classes begin earlier than 8:30 a.m., which forces many students to wake up earlier than they would prefer. According to Child Mind Institute, teen sleep deprivation has been shown to lead to a wide range of negative effects in the long term, including poor academic performance, increased stress levels, depression and even the increased risks of car accidents for teen drivers.
However, with later start times also come later end times, which could interfere with students’ extracurricular activities such as clubs and sports. This could also be an issue for students who have after-school jobs, as the hours during which they are available to work would decrease. Many students have already used the existing schedule to balance school life with after-school activities, part-time work and family responsibilities. “I need to be able to work throughout the afternoon since that’s when I can pick the most shifts,” junior Mark Ray said.
There are other alternatives that could change class start times, such as abbreviated schedules. Students who work or have after-school activities would be permitted to start early or late, depending on their circumstances. Junior William Hunt has an abbreviated schedule, allowing him to come to RM at 9:30 for third period. “With the extra couple hours of sleep I get, I feel more energized and awake in the morning,” he said. Introducing online classes is also another alternative in which students would be mostly independent within their own schedules. According to a TIME Magazine article regarding online schooling becoming a permanent option for students in the New York City school district, multiple parents appreciated the flexibility that their families gained with the implementation of online classes.
Student achievement and wellness need to be made a priority. Changing school start times can help achieve these goals, but any adjustments made will need to be well-planned out so that no unintended consequences occur.
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