should schools be allowed to start before 8AM? Options

[*tweeak*]

I'm going to attempt to use this as a topic for a persuasive essay, but before we can get the topics approved, we have to basically debate with the teacher on it, so I'd like to be prepared for some of the arguements I'll be up against. Please provide thoughtful reasoning on your opinion, as to why it's important for schools to begin at one time or another

[mai_z]

[QUOTEFacts you say? Well then, if high schools were to start after 8, then both middle schools and elementary schools would have to start after 9 and 10. Schools would have to end later and shorten the time of after school activities(such as after school football practice or soccer). The school bus schedule after school would arrive around 5(for the elementary schools) in the midst of rush hour delaying the student's time time to get home.(yes, my school buses do go on the highway).[/QUOTE]

I went to the only arts school in the city for elementary school, so we were basically forced to start after 9 (we started at 9:30) because students had to get from all over the city to school. Classes didn't end until 4, and kids didn't get home till around five. 'What does this have to do with the topic?' you ask...well we had the highest average in the entire school board. It's virtually impossible to ask students to function at peak performance that early in the morning, because they need their sleep. If they had to get to school at 8, and perhaps wake up around 6:30, they would all be sleeping in class instead of learning.

[Spirited Away]

I went to the only arts school in the city for elementary school, so we were basically forced to start after 9 (we started at 9:30) because students had to get from all over the city to school. Classes didn't end until 4, and kids didn't get home till around five. 'What does this have to do with the topic?' you ask...well we had the highest average in the entire school board. It's virtually impossible to ask students to function at peak performance that early in the morning, because they need their sleep. If they had to get to school at 8, and perhaps wake up around 6:30, they would all be sleeping in class instead of learning.

I seriously think that this depends on individuals. For four years in high school, I wake up at 5:30am to catch the buss at 6-6:15am and I do not have a problem with staying awake in class. If staying awake in class is hard, students should try going to bed 11pm at the latest instead of chating or talking nonsense on the phone at night. If you're concerned about how well I did in school, I graduated in the top 8%-9% of my class with 3-5 as scores for AP testings (I didn't test for all my AP classes though -__- no money). For the last year, I've been waking up at 6am to work out in the morning before going to school. Again, I have no problem with keeping myself awake through out the day unless I stayed up past 12 the night before. Also, on days that I do wake up later for classes, I find that I am easily distracted in class.

I don't think the argument that students do worse when they have to wake up early is very credible because it doesn't pertain to everyone. Some folks are morning people and some aren't.