High School Starting Time
...r to get ready for school and catch the bus. 2. Since Buses are used for elementary, middle, and high school, it usually comes 40 min earlier for high school students. 3. Students have to wake up earlier because of this. C. I think High School Times should be later. II. Need Step A. How would loss of sleep effect the students? 1. Statistics have proven that everyone needs 9 ¼ hours of sleep (Carskadon). i. Most teens get 6 or 7 hours of sleep a day (Ferchaw). ii. It is a fact the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) and some members of congress find alarming (Ferchaw). 2. Scientific studies show that adolescents need more sleep than adults (Carskadon). i. However, this conflicts with the early starting times of high school. ii. Results in insufficient sleep. 3. The consequences of insufficient sleep are memory lapses, attention deficits, depressed mood, and slowed reaction time (Center). i. Sleep deprivation studies have shown that divergent thinking suffers and students get poorer grades with inadequate sleep (Center). B. High school students need more sleep because… 1. The change in hormones that accompanies puberty also makes teens more alert at night and sleepy in the morning (Ferchaw). 2. Studies have shown that students in 7th period French usually had a letter grade higher than students in the same class during the early morning (Ferchaw). C. If high school started later, it would benefit not only the students but other people as well. 1. A later start time appeared to be related to better achievement, less sleepiness, and fewer reports of depressive feeling and behaviors (Center). 2. Juvenile crime-which peaks between 3pm and 6pm, would be reduced because a later start time would not let teens out of school until later in the afternoon, when more parents would be home to supervise them (Ferchaw). D. Opposing Views 1. Some people think that since the students get home later, they go to sleep later but actually, studies shown that students that who get home from school later go to bed at around the same time as other students (Center). 2. Most major conflicts is after school activities, especially sport practices, and also some students have jobs after school. III. Solution A. High school should start ...