High School Start Times

Words: 2406
Pages: 10

“The early bird gets the worm” is a popular proverb that implies that being first improves the chances of success. However, does this apply to an individual’s wake-up time as well? Contrary to popular belief, “The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends middle and high schools delay the start of class to 8:30 a.m. or later” (Wahlstrom 5), and “. Statistics report that only 14% of American public high schools currently meet this guideline” (Boergers 3). Other studies show that modern teenagers are severely sleep-deprived and experts are convinced that later school start times could help to fix this issue. High school start time is a topic that has been researched by scientists around the world for decades, but has not been reformed. …show more content…
Transportation is an obstacle that has gotten in the way of making high school start times easier. People who think start times should remain the same argue that transportation, whether that be busses or parent drop-off, is a problem when it comes to getting children to school later in the morning. The California Teachers Association (CTA) brought attention to the fact that low-income families with little or no job flexibility would have trouble getting their children to school with new start times (Walker 8). Problems like these are highly likely and should be addressed by school boards when initially proposing changes. Some teachers spoke out on the issue saying, “(They) know from experience that many of these parents will drop their children off at school at the same time they do now, regardless of whether there is supervision, and there is not enough funding from the state for before-school programs to ensure the safety of students who will be dropped off early” (Walker 8). Even though classes start later, some teachers believe that parents will continue to show up and drop off their children early due to their early work