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School Start Time

A law to start school later.
 
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I believe that High Schools in the united states start way too early. Everyone knows teenagers like to stay up late but did you know that research has proven that teenagers cannot fall asleep until 11-12 am? This is a fact, as well teenagers require 9:15 hours of sleep on average. My High School starts at 7:15 am and at any class at a given time there are 1-5 students asleep. This is a sick amount. It is no wonder america falls behind the rest of the world in math and science, we are just too darned tired to those math problems! If school started after the sun got up lets say 8:30 am to 9 am it would be much better for students. Don't get me wrong but from what I've heard most schools in the rest of the world start at around 9 am local time like in the UK. I know there are a lot of people from the UK in here so if i am wrong on that please fill me in.
JoeLounsbury, Feb 12 2004

School Start Time Research http://education.um...archWorks/sleep.htm
[dryman, Oct 04 2004]


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       High school starts early here so that it can end before 3pm - so that in summer, school isn't going through the hottest part of the day.   

       //It is no wonder america falls behind the rest of the world in math and science, we are just too darned tired to those math problems!//   

       Try moving to Japan.
Detly, Feb 12 2004
  

       //Everyone knows teenagers like to stay up late // I never liked to stay up late. I just couldn't sleep earlier.   

       Locking the start of school and other activities to sunrise (e.g. school starts 2 hours after sunrise) would probably improve live a lot for many people. Apparently there are some hard data about the connection between frequency of traffic accidents and change of time in spring and fall, but I can't find a link.
kbecker, Feb 12 2004
  

       I remember reading about some studies that directly showed some significant benefits to just what you're describing. Since then, a significant minority of US schools have in fact gradually started changing to later start times. Well, too bad you're not in one of those.. better get to bed! ;)
dryman, Feb 12 2004
  

       Detly do you live in the Saharaha or something? I live in Michigan where school runs only the winter and we have A/C and Heat so it doesnt matter what the temperature is but i am sure in places where it does matter this would be a problem.
JoeLounsbury, Feb 12 2004
  

       //I live in Michigan where school runs only the winter//   

       It runs all year here.   

       //and we have A/C and Heat//   

       Your school has better funding than mine did. Also, heating isn't an issue during school hours.
Detly, Feb 12 2004
  

       up here in Canada my high school dont start till 8:30am and thats way to early. now take off you hosers
stinkycheese, Feb 12 2004
  

       // did you know that research has proven that teenagers cannot fall asleep until 11-12 am? This is a fact, //   

       Bullshit. Go to bed.
waugsqueke, Feb 13 2004
  

       Just think of it as preparation for the real world where we are often called upon to perform well under less than optimal conditions.
half, Feb 13 2004
  

       <old man smacking gums> Hell, when I was a wee lad, I had to stay up until 3 AM bucking hay up into the loft. Then I had to get up at 2 AM to milk 50 cows. After that,I had to cut at least a cord of word and stack it. After finishing the wood, I would have to cook breakfast for my 15 brothers and sisters, make their lunch of water and bread and then pull them by sled, barefoot, through 40 foot high snow drifts the 40 miles to school. After 12 hours of schoolin', I would have to pull all my siblings back the 120 miles home and wouldn't get home until 4 AM. Oh, and we had school 9 days a week too! <old man smacking gums>   

       Grow up! Try working 24 hours a day for 5 days, and 12 hours off each day for 2 days. That is my schedule now.   

       School is trying to prepare you for a world that will chew you up and spit you out. Someday you will appreciate 3 months of vacation during the summer, a week at Thankgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas and a week in Springtime because after a year of a schedule like mine, you will get exactly 1 week off with pay.
Klaatu, Feb 13 2004
  

       klaatu, may i ask where do you work, and why haven't you found a better job? Also I think that no one should work more than 40 hours a week. for many reasons, one it is selfish you are takeing away the job that someone else could be using. 2) you should never have to work that long, and your employer is controling you with little pay to force you to work.
JoeLounsbury, Feb 13 2004
  

       he is a neuro surgeon...
po, Feb 14 2004
  

       //no one should work more than 40 hours a week.//

Ha ha ha ha ah ha ha ah aha hack hac chk ck, oh stop. Please. (gasp) Someone make it stop. Ow my gut.
  

       Joe, I have done over 70 hours this week and I still have today to go.
sufc, Feb 14 2004
  

       i'm pretty sure my school is doin' the opposite of this and making school slightly earlier , i don't really know why and no ones willing to justify it for me .
slapdash loser, Feb 14 2004
  

       Personally, I have made it a goal to find a way to maintain my current level of income while working less than 40 hours per week. Maybe I'm lazy or maybe I just want to do other things.   

       Right now, I do my best to work no more than 40 hours per week. I'm not getting rich, nor probably will I ever be rich, but I have managed to become debt free. That opens up a wide range of options for me.   

       I agree with Joe, in principle, but I know better. 80 hour weeks were the norm for me 2 jobs ago. Some jobs simply can not be completed in 40 hours per week. Some would take your entire life if you allowed it. In the end, it's all about your priorities. If your job is rewarding and isn't taking time from other things you value (or should value) more highly then work all you want.   

       Oh, and where I live, I suspect that there is a noticeable difference between the cost of cooling the buildings early in the morning vs. late in the afternoon. 120 degree F days in the desert will do that.
half, Feb 14 2004
  

       My high school starts at 9:15, unless you take 0 hour (I do) which starts at 8:30.
spacecadet, Feb 14 2004
  

       Recent research in the UK and a pilot study in Newham (?) suggested that school should run from early morning till about 2pm, then send them home. Same hours, different portion of the day. This applied to younger kids as far as I remember. It also included a breakfast so that kids would start the day with the right blood sugars, as normal start times encourage kids to skip breakfast somehow, possibly because parents are simultaneously having to get themselves ready for work.

Basically, there are 24 hours in a day and kids need to have the day timetabled to their best learning advantage - this may have cultural, seasonal and geographical variance. Trying to apply a rule across a state or a whole country is never going to work! It seems more pertinent (to me) to relate sensible school start times to commuting traffic, daylight hours, circadian rhythms, and stop advertising inappropriate prime-time TV dramas to kids who've got quite enough homework to do.
badgers, Feb 14 2004
  

       I agree with [badgers]. My school starts at 8:45, which is plenty of time to sleep in, but pushes the end time to 4. I can't speak for the majority here, but with all the classes I'm taking, it would be nice to get the homework done before I get sleepy, and go to the halfbakery.   

       Unfortunately, an early start time forces before-school practices for marching band and the like to the afternoon, when it's hotter. A lot hotter.   

       And my slightly unrelated idea: Just kill the trimester system. Forever.
Baker^-1, Feb 14 2004
  


 

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