Everyone wants that extra five minutes of sleep in the morning, but school never fails to steal it away. But there may be a case for giving students a whole hour of extra sleep in the morning, and the benefits are far greater than one would expect.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016, California became the first state to require later start times, specifically middle schools could start no earlier than 8:00 a.m., and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. This change proved to significantly improve student’s academic achievement. The average standardized test scores in the state went up approximately sixteen percent.
Changing school start times doesn’t only affect academic success, but also affects student’s mental health as well.
According to the American Psychological Association, “Those in schools starting between 8:30 a.m. and 8:59 a.m. had longer sleep duration, less negative mood, and better developmental outcomes including socioemotional health, cognitive development, behavioral health, and physical health.”
Despite these clear benefits, school districts remain extremely reluctant to make the switch to later starting times. This is predominately due to logistical reasons. Administrators are usually worried about road congestion as a result of buses being out later in the morning. It also interferes with scheduling for extracurricular activities that involve other school districts. These issues can be remedied by widespread support for a shared policy across all school districts in a much larger area, rather than district by district.
Students aren’t getting enough sleep and early school start times are a huge contributor to the deterioration of student wellbeing. Even though it is difficult in execution, starting school later in the day should be a higher priority and considered critical to the success of students.
