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Felix Daniel Velasquez

Composition 100

Dec 12, 2022

Professor Andaluz

Slow and Sleepy Wins the Race

Introduction.

Not a day goes by that nobody gets a quality amount of sleep in a perfect world.

However, our world is far from flawless, with early start times ravaging teenage rest and causing

many complications, like a greater probability of automobile accidents en route to school. If high

schoolers get enough sleep routinely, they could shatter their expectations about school. Early

start times are counterproductive to responsibilities like taking younger siblings to and from

school. With early school start times becoming a thing of the past, numerous districts worldwide

have seen improvements but at a cost. High schoolers and parents would cherish later start times

to their advantage, but many schools go cold shoulder by ignoring recommendations from

organizations, and many school transit services are unsatisfied with later start times. Despite later

school schedules being unpopular, board members should push back school start times to benefit

students of all backgrounds and grade levels, but there are drawbacks we should consider before

doing so.

Early Start Times Affecting Sleep.

Night owl teenagers are less likely to act like their early bird peers, as staying up late and

oversleeping is the norm for these adolescents. A study in Germany from the Scientific Reports
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journal explains why high school students stay up so late. The evidence says an adolescent’s

chronotype deteriorates through age until around 21, causing teens to be more resilient to sleep

pressure than adults, giving teenagers an edge on staying up late but disrupting waking time

(Biller, A et al. 1). One of WBUR’s On Point podcasts also provides some more understandable

information to why high schoolers sleep late. The podcast says as children progress more into

adulthood, their circadian rhythms shift, causing the body to release melatonin at 11 PM in most

teenagers (Ringer, John, Meghna, Chakrabarti). Plenty of upper-class students become tired at

10:45 PM and stay that way until 8 AM, so “It’s a matter of biology, not choice” (Wahlstrom

Kyla L, 3). Early start times give nighthawk teenagers less downtime by forcing them to get up

well before they reach 8 hours of sleep, resulting in extra rest on the weekends. This period of

extra sleep is called social jetlag and is the difference between weekend and weeknight sleep

(Biller, et al 1). The research says going to bed late is not as rare as finding a four-leafed clover,

and if school started later, teenagers would have the privilege of going to school well-rested.

Based on this information, early start times deal a glancing blow to a high school student’s sleep

quality, so we should push start times.

Teenagers who sleep late skimp on sleep on the weeknights but make up for it on the

weekends. A little extra beauty sleep on the weekends sounds nice for most people, but sleep

deprivation on the weeknights alone deals enough damage. Information from a study looking

over later start times in New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 states the ramifications of inadequate

sleep on any person, not just teenagers. When high schoolers fail to get their recommended hours

of sleep, a lack of performance, reaction, and self-respect will ensue, promoting obesity, drugs,

and depression (Borlase, Brigid Jane 2). While this information may seem like a no-brainer,
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teens not getting enough sleep leads to nasty consequences. Therefore, schools should push back

their start times to promote their student’s well-being.

High school students sleeping enough before school is like going sober next time you hit

the bar; it is better to be safe than sorry. A magazine article published by Kyla L Wahlstrom

shows an interesting correlation between the symptoms of sleep deprivation and impaired

judgment due to alcohol. The source says 2,700 teenagers pass away annually from

automobile-related accidents and unhealthy sleep patterns bring the same onset of symptoms as

having a .08% blood alcohol concentration level. The symptoms include but are not limited to

slowed reaction time, rational decision-making, and eye motions (Wahlstrom 5). Speaking of

being under the influence of alcohol, early start times promote addictive behaviors. A group of

sleep doctors from the 1990s mentioned in Wahlstrom’s journal says teenagers need a daily sleep

intake of 9.25 hours per night, and if teens do not meet those demands, it can lead to a hot spot of

complications like drug abuse (4). Teenagers not getting enough sleep from early start times is

harming their mental physique, so it is safe to say start times today are making teenagers

unprepared to learn. As sleep deprivation is a consequence of early start times, we should

postpone start times to help teenagers’ sleep patterns.

On-screen now is a graph depicting the suggested bedtimes categorized by age

throughout a student's school career. The sleep and wake-up times are outrageous, but this graph

serves as a rule of thumb for students regarding when they should go to bed.
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Figure 2. “Suggested bedtimes for middle and high school students*” by the National Sleep

Foundation from Later Start Times Improves Grades, Mood, and Safety.

(https://doi-org.mccproxy.lib.hawaii.edu/10.1177/0031721716681770)

The Perks of Later Start Times.

A later start time will feel like a decent upgrade from a teenager's view, much like buying

a new car and retiring the rusty worn-down one. As time progresses, early start times are

proliferating worldwide, showing improvements in areas like proper sleep in high schoolers. As

stated in an article by Borlase and her colleagues, later start times connect with healthier sleep

patterns. A school in New Zealand named Wellington High postponed their start time to 10:30

for Year 12 and 13 students, and they were able to sleep late while also sleeping enough to feel
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comfortable once they got to school. Wellington’s later start times affected Year 9 students as

well by transitioning them from 8-9 hours of sleep to healthier 9-10 hours (4). The new

implementation made by Wellington High is an example of keeping sleep deprivation at bay by

making students feel more at home with their sleeping habits. Healthy teenage rest stems from

later start times, explaining why we should delay school start times.

Some districts in the United States seek change and look out for their students, like the

superintendent of the Minnesota Edina school district. She suggested later start times would be a

game-changer for many students across the board and she was right. A magazine published by

Kyla L. Wahlstrom claims pushing back start times significantly will keep up with teenagers’

sleep needs. When the superintendent changed start times from 7:20 to 8:40, the later start time

bettered the sleep health of 52,000 students. Figure 1 of her magazine compares three start times

(8:00, 8:35, and 8:55), resulting in an upward trend of students getting in their recommended

hours for the latest start times. 49.7% of students sleep adequately at 8:00 sharp, 60% get enough

sleep at 8:35, and 66.2% reach eight hours at 8:55 (4). In other words, more high schoolers get

more sleep the later school starts for them, which is key to fighting the teenage sleep deprivation

epidemic. Based on Wahlstrom’s findings, postponing school start times will safeguard students

against sleep deprivation.

Later school start times also address something that their early bird counterparts

disregard: safety comes first. Pushing back start times addresses the elephant in the room by

making students more aware of their surroundings, thereby ensuring the safety of teenage

drivers. As mentioned by Wahlstrom, her article states pushing back start times will make

driving to school less risky for high schoolers. The magazine says the risk associated with teens

winding up in accidents will drop by 13% should schools start later. This data is just an average
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of Colorado, Wyoming, and Minnesota’s statistics, with the biggest change occurring in

Wyoming’s Jackson Hole whose start time is 8:55 (Wahlstrom 6). Delayed high school start

times prevent teenagers from kicking the bucket prematurely, which is one of the perks of later

start times. If board members push back start times, sleepy teenagers will not need to sign a

death warrant en route to school.

Additionally, delayed start times in high school provide aid to sleepy teenagers by cutting

down on addictive and depressive behaviors. Delayed start times help depressed teenagers turn

over a new leaf by impacting mental complications like drug use. Kyla L Wahlstrom’s article

points out how later start times affect addictive behaviors in teenagers. Her source, in

conjunction with the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, says teenagers sleeping more than 8 hours per

night reduces their drug use from 8 to 14% and depressive moods from 9 to 11% (Wahlstrom 4).

In a real-world example, the Hubbard Family saw the promising benefits of school start times,

but at the same time were indifferent about it. In 2020, the family’s now-graduated senior was

more attentive in class and changed her daily routine for the better (Drelinger et al 8). In simple

terms, postponing high school start times helps teenagers get the right amount of sleep, causing

an effect on the use of drugs, alcohol, chronic depression, and attentiveness, emphasizing the

importance of later start times for adolescents. Under these circumstances, we should change

school start times to battle addiction and hopelessness in young men and women.

One of many teachers’ pet peeves is students arriving late. Sure, people get irked by other

people disrespecting their time and early start times prepare students for the real world, but later

start times give students a chance to finally arrive on time. A periodical by the AJPH Editorials

advises schools to start later for multiple reasons, including punctuality (Lauren, Hale, et al 2).

The journal says start times after 8:30 would not only affect students' attendance rates but also
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things like the likelihood of winding up in an accident and graduation rates. Wahlstrom’s

magazine article explains more succinctly how later start times would affect students’

punctuality. The source claims tardiness rates from first-year students, sophomores, juniors, and

seniors have all dropped by 66% because of later high school start times (Wahlstrom 4). Lastly, a

podcast named What Happens When American Teens Get More Sleep states how delayed school

starts affect a handful of students. The podcast examined a sophomore biology class and found

more students are interested in arriving on time than arriving late due to the later start times

(Ringer, Meghna). Changing the school start schedule is essential to keeping students on track in

terms of attendance; later starts give teenagers another chance to be on schedule. Taking this into

consideration, administrators should push back start times because more students arrive to class

engaged and ready to learn.

To combat sleep loss in teens and hope to bring out the best in these students, a school in

Germany called “Gymnasium Alsdorf” made their start times flexible for sophomores, juniors,

and seniors. Biller’s Scientific Reports journal taking place in Germany proposes how later start

times can treasure good grades for upper-class students. Biller and her colleagues say delaying

start times to 8:50 AM and beyond bump up the average GPA from 58.2% to 59.6% and more

sophomores, juniors, and seniors thrive in the Natural Science field as an after-effect of later start

times (5). Albeit the change in GPA is barely noticeable, Natural Sciences have gained more

interest because of later start times. In addition, changing the start time encourages students to

partake in extracurricular activities and improve their grades in one way or another. As attested

by the Education Digest’s magazine about later school start times, the journal shows how

postponing school start times make sleep and school more bearable. The source says Seattle

public schools during the 2016-17 school year changed their start times from 7:50 to 8:45, and
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teenagers gradually adapted to the schedule change by getting 34 minutes of extra sleep, thereby

bumping their grades up by 4.5% (Drelinger, Danielle 1). Finally, midterms and final exams at

the end of each semester bring the beast out of everyone. Later school start times can be many

teenagers’ happy place before a stressful exam. An excerpt from an AJPH Editorials magazine

follows up with Wahlstrom’s journal, explaining how postponing later start times will affect test

scores. The author’s study assessed a North Carolina middle school district with later start times

and found a 2%-point increase in math test scores, especially in those with low-income families

and dangerous neighborhoods, which are socioeconomic factors (Lauren 2). Delayed school

starts can turn good grades into a reality for students on the cusp of failing, and later start times

do not discriminate, preventing all students’ failures without prejudice.

Moreover, later school start times will give more students on the lower end an

opportunity to chase their dreams after school. Wahlstrom’s magazine article set a baseline for

the average graduation rates of Colorado, Wyoming, and Minnesota. The journal reported that

schools in Colorado, Wyoming, and Minnesota had an average graduation rate of 81% to 97%,

with start times ranging from 8 AM to 8:55 AM (Wahlstrom 4). These graduation rates are high,

but all the schools mentioned in the article start no earlier than 8 AM. In a more direct study,

WBUR’s podcast, What Happens When American Teens Get More Sleep, analyzes the graduation

rates in Colorado’s capital city, Denver, before and after the change in start time. The podcast

carried out by John Ringer and his colleague Meghna Chakrabarti says graduation rates jumped

from 79% to 88% due to a later start time (Ringer, Meghna). Later start times are a ripple effect;

all the beneficial aspects, like increased sleep duration, grades, and punctuality all contribute to

higher graduation rates. Therefore, pushing back start times encourages students’ performance
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which in turn gives graduating seniors a better chance of viewing the real world after high

school.

Drawbacks and Limitations of School Start Times.

On the other hand, postponing start times is not all sunshine and lollipops, as many issues

like extracurriculars arise from this incentive. A National Comorbidity Survey article authored

by Diana Paksarian considers the ramifications of pushing back start times. Board members

must address school transit, after-school programs, part-time jobs, and league sports because

students also have to be dismissed later in the day (Paksarian, Diana, et al 6). Realistically, later

start times will throw off the bus tiering system altogether, affect student attendance by mixing in

with rush hour traffic, older students and parents’ work hours not coinciding with the new

schedules, and setting up childcare workers for younger students while their older siblings and

guardians are at school or work (Wahlstrom 6). Although pushing back school starts would

revolutionize school life for middle and high schoolers, later start times would not be up for

grabs in schools and families. Therefore, while later start times would be nice as an idea like

reducing classroom sizes, it does not come without hardships.

Next, the downsides of pushing back start times not only impact the teenagers in charge

of taking their siblings to school, but also the bus drivers and the opinions of administrators. The

podcast What Happens When American Teens Get More Sleep answers how postponing start

times for high schoolers would lead to a chain reaction affecting all students regardless of their

grade level. The podcast, co-authored by John Ringer, says pushing back start times results in

elementary schoolers going to school later than high schoolers because of an altered bus-tiered

schedule. Elementary school students would arrive at school at 9 AM, while high schoolers
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would be in a classroom by 8:30 AM (Ringer, Meghna). Lastly, even though schools in Seattle

have later start times than other districts, many administrators encourage moving start times

earlier to provide aid to the understaffed bus drivers and reduce costs despite parents saying

earlier schedules are setting students up for failure because the postponed schedule does not let

students adjust to a nine-to-five work environment (Drelinger et al. 7). Bearing everything in

mind, school start times later in the day would be feasible for teens but board members willing to

change schedules should think about everything before they act.

Finally, due to teenagers being acclimated to their later chronotypes, the majority use their

phones before bedtime. Borlase’s study in New Zealand states most teens spend some time on

their phones before bed. The journal claims 80.7% of students used technology before bed in

1999, which spiked to 96.4% in 2008. This, combined with earlier start times, causes an increase

in daytime sleepiness for Year 9 students in Wellington High (Borlase, et al 5). Wahlstrom’s

article says 87.6% of high school students in Colorado, Wyoming, and Minnesota use their

phones at night (5). Although later start times would be beneficial for teenage sleep, adolescents

still have the responsibility of putting their phones away to prevent daytime sleepiness with later

start times. Taking this into account, it is going to take more than pushing start times to fight the

sleep deprivation epidemic, explaining why many schools still start early.

The Unpopularity of Later School Start Times.

If later start times look after teen sleep, punctuality, and academic performance, then why

is this implementation not spreading like wildfires? Many districts nationwide completely

disregard the research about later start times and start early for the heck of it; early start times

were present in schools since day one. A small snippet of an AJPH Editorials article states many
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schools still have rigid start schedules in the 21st century. The mean time in which middle or

high school starts is 8:03 AM, with 8:30 AM accounting for only 18% of the schools based on

statistics from the CDC (Lauren et al 2). Only 13% of non-private high schools go through with

the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation, with high school districts tending to start

earlier than 7:30, a characteristic not as prominent in elementary schools (Drelinger et al 2). It is

no surprise that many students go to school during dawn while the lucky select few get the

luxury of later start times. Taking this into account, prevalent early start times in high school

underline why delayed school start times are uncommon.

The unpopularity of later school starts arises from only a handful of states realizing the

benefits, while the latter throws the memo out the window. WBUR’s On Point podcast about

teenage sleep concerning later start times acknowledges legislators in California willing to take a

stand and change their school starts for the better. Legislators in California wrote a bill named “Z

to A” hoping to provoke change outside of local California schools. Most states ignored this act

believing later start times should stay local, while some states, like Minnesota, kept making their

start times earlier until the bill served as a “wake-up call” for Minnesota (Ringer, Meghna). This

statement from the podcasts suggests school districts are getting too ambitious with start times

and should examine them carefully, like someone monitoring their LDL cholesterol levels.

Overall, while start times promise captivating benefits like fewer instances of drug addiction,

later start times are ultimately unsung heroes.

What Can We Do?

With later school starts having positive and negative qualities, change must be difficult

when push comes to shove. The question is, what can we do about it? Fortunately, a YMCA
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organization in Fort Wayne is willing to help parents and teens through the hurdles of later start

times. The article says YMCA officer Chris Angellatta runs after-school programs so parents

have time to plan ahead and fewer things to worry about regarding babysitting (Drelinger et al

3). Later in the article, Saint Paul’s board of education member Steve Marchese proposes taking

bus tiering down a notch, so it can be sustainable for those in need of public transportation to

school. Drelinger’s article says high school students can take standard public transportation to

and from school, thereby having school buses exclusively for elementary and middle school

students. Her magazine also proposes incorporating more lighting in public parks and fields

allowing sports teams to practice before school hours and increasing safety by moving bus stops

closer to homes, selling backpacks with reflectors, and installing lights and sidewalks where

needed (4). Seattle public schools approach the bus dilemma differently, reducing bus service for

high school students altogether, should they keep their later start times in effect (Ringer,

Meghna). Postponed start times in schools can have adverse effects on family life, bus

availability, and safety concerns but there are viable solutions non-profits and board members

can take to overcome these challenges. All in all, board members can take a stand against the

disadvantages of later start times, therefore highly recommending change.

Conclusion.

All human beings are obliged to hit the hay, as proper sleep lets people be wary of their

surroundings better and “see things.” Many high school students have tight schedules including

athletics, part-time jobs, and clubs, so later start times make school life more comfortable for

teens. Early start times are the culprit for sleep deprivation, people showing up late, fewer

students putting on the cap and gown, subpar performances in school, and automobile accidents.

Regardless of later start times being all the rage for teenagers and parents, many schools putting
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later start times into effect have to deal with the hardships that come with it. Despite everything,

there are actions we as a community can take to combat these challenges, and the benefits

outweigh the detrimental effects of postponed start times. As early start times slowly fade into

obscurity, more schools are waking up to discover that later start times do not always have to be

a local issue, and the slow and sleepy students win the race.
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Works Cited:

Biller, A. M., Molenda, C., Obster, F., Zerbini, G., Förtsch, C., Roenneberg, T., &

Winnebeck,

E. C. (2022). A 4-year longitudinal study investigating the relationship

between

flexible school starts and grades. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1–13.

https://doi-org.mccproxy.lib.hawaii.edu/10.1038/s41598-022-06804-5

Borlase, Brigid Jane, et al. “Effects of School Start Times and Technology Use on

Teenagers’ Sleep: 1999-2008.” Sleep & Biological Rhythms, vol. 11, no. 1,

Jan.

2013, pp. 46–54. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.mccproxy.lib.hawaii.edu/10.1111/sbr.12003.

Dreilinger, Danielle. “How to Make School Start Later.” Education Digest, vol. 85, no. 3,

Jan. 2020, pp. 17–25. EBSCOhost,

https://search-ebscohost-com.mccproxy.lib.hawaii.edu/login.aspx?direct=t

rue&db=a9h&AN=139755165&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Hale, Lauren, and Wendy Troxel. “Embracing the School Start Later Movement:

Adolescent Sleep Deprivation as a Public Health and Social Justice

Problem.”
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American Journal of Public Health, vol. 108, no. 5, May 2018, pp.

599–600.

EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.mccproxy.lib.hawaii.edu/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304381.

Paksarian, Diana, et al. “School Start Time and Adolescent Sleep Patterns: Results From

the US National Comorbidity Survey--Adolescent Supplement.” American

Journal of Public Health, vol. 105, no. 7, July 2015, pp. 1351–57.

EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.mccproxy.lib.hawaii.edu/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302619.

Ringer, John, and Meghna Chakrabarti. “What Happens When American Teens Get

More Sleep.” On Point, WBUR, 3 Aug. 2022,

https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2022/08/03/california-is-pushing-back-the-s

tart-of-the-high-school-day-did-it-work.

Wahlstrom, K. L. (2016). Later start time for teens improves grades, mood, and safety.

Phidelta Kappan, 98(4), 8–14.

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