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

[dahalfkoreanstyl]

no for basically two reasons off the top of my head

1- for people like me who lives far away from school, u have to wake up extra early to get there, my school started 7:30 am, i woke up at 5:30am to catch the bus which would take 1 hr to get there cuz of traffic, 1 HOUR TO GO LITERALLY 11 MILES!!!!

thank God im in college now, i just walk everywhere
2- sometimes students get home too early and parents dont finish work yet so they are left unsupervised (can be a problem if too young or not responsible)

[*RiC3xBoy*]

Yes, the school should be able to decide when it starts since you are attending the school and not the other way around. If you don't like the time, switch schools. If you don't want to switch schools, sleep earlier.

[sadolakced acid]

no.

schools traditionally start early because of convenince to parents and public transportation.

students can use public transport after adults who do service industry, who get to work at 5:00, and before white collar, who get to work at 9:00

this way students don't use subways or buses or roadways at peak rush hour.

also, white collar parents can drop off the kids on the way to work.

however, with the new no child left behind school ratings, schools must sacrafice the convinence of parents for the education of the students.

this is much less imporantant for elementary schools, but when children hit puberty, their circadian cycle slows down, and it takes two or more hours longer for sleepyness to set in (and to wake up) than it does adults.

therefore; schools should, to benifit student performance, not start any earlier than 9:00.

[*RiC3xBoy*]

this is much less imporantant for elementary schools, but when children hit puberty, their circadian cycle slows down, and it takes two or more hours longer for sleepyness to set in (and to wake up) than it does adults.

True, but students can still easily forced surpress this urge and wake up at the peak of dawn.

[sadolakced acid]

^

this, however, has been proven to lower congitive ability in classes before 12 AM, significantly lowering it in the first class of the day, also it lowers immune systems and raises tempers.

[*RiC3xBoy*]

Early or not, many students face stress in their educational and social life. Would waking up a little early highly affect the amout of stress put on the students?

[TwistMe]

My school already starts before 8 AM. It starts at 7:35, I thought other schools did the same....weird.

Well, ultimately it is the school's decision to change the time if they wanted. The students would then have to adapt to the new time, by choosing to sleep earlier to get the right amount of sleep. It sort of depends on how much earlier it would start. If it were by a couple of minutes I don't think that would matter much.

A counter-argument might be that if it starts too early kids might not have the time to eat breakfast. The schools always emphasizes how important it is to eat breakfast.

If the school were to make the start time earlier the teachers would then have to get to school even earlier. Some teachers might object to that, so you never know.

Another bad thing is that maybe the fact that the school started at eight helped the parents too. Most jobs start at 8 too, so it gave an opportunity for carpools. If it were to start earlier the parents would have to wake up earlier just to drive their kids to school. The parents would then find it a hassle, and lose maybe an hour of sleep.

Yea, well there's my two cents. I hope you do well on your essay! I always have a hard time with essays.

[ApocalypseAelis]

^Is your name Alice? o_O My name is Alice too.

[/offtopicness]

My school starts at 8:10...

No, I don't think schools should allow classes to start before 8 AM...students need their rest. If we force students to wake up earlier, they might not have enough strength or energy to learn or work...8 am is just the right time to begin exercising your mind and forcing students to wake earlier will cause a drop in efficiency instead of a rise.

[haleakala1]

My school starts at 8 am but I wouldn't mind it being earlier because i'm usually up at 6:30 am

[sadolakced acid]

Early or not, many students face stress in their educational and social life. Would waking up a little early highly affect the amout of stress put on the students?

how is that relavant?

i've given ample evidence that says if schools want students to do better they should not start earlier. you have not provided any facts saying that starting earlier is better for any reason.

sure a school can start earlier. test scores will suffer.

[demolished]

how is that relavant? 

i've given ample evidence that says if schools want students to do better they should not start earlier.  you have not provided any facts saying that starting earlier is better for any reason.

sure a school can start earlier.  test scores will suffer.

I know man, test score does suffer! I want some time to review for the test so i dont forget easily. Even though, i should've wake up earlier but i want to watch Smallville (superman) new episode at 8:00pm (it was at 10:00pm).


Even if it was at 10:00, it still does share some same problems.

[Mulder]

my school starts at 7:45
10 minutes earlier than last yr...
they made the school day 10 min longer, but at least they added it to lunch...

but anyway, im basically brain dead @ 8 am. i cant think...much less do well in classes. if i had a test in 1st per....id sooo fail. i understand that some people are morning people..but most of us arent. however, it is a school's right as to whether they want to start school before 8 or not. some schools start at 7!

[ParanoidAndroid]

If you think about it schools that start before 8 end a lil early (sometimes). And it really is no problem for me. I am insomniac (my parents don't know that i am) and I can barely sleep. So I don't mind. Besides it is the school's decision and schools decide what is the best to organize the time not your decision.

[*RiC3xBoy*]

how is that relavant? 

i've given ample evidence that says if schools want students to do better they should not start earlier.  you have not provided any facts saying that starting earlier is better for any reason.

sure a school can start earlier.  test scores will suffer.

Facts 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).

[ParanoidAndroid]

Facts 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).

I love your opinions. You rock.

[dahalfkoreanstyl]

more time sitting in rush hour, more gas wasted, more tax money spent on schools, the average full school bus only gets about 7 miles per gallon!!!

"Fairfax uses 3.5 million gallons of fuel yearly to run its fleet. School officials budgeted $4.85 million for fuel this year, a 33 percent increase from last year's fuel budget of $3.65 million. If gas prices continue to soar, officials are not sure where the extra money will come from." -Washington Post

and nobody wants to pay more taxes, therefore budget cuts within the school system

with this said, i would still have schools start later because i dont want to wake up so early, i pay taxes too and if paying a little extra means we can start school later, then so be it

[ParanoidAndroid]

The time when school begins is like I said, the school's decision. No matter how stupid we think or how good or bad we think it is, it's their decision. We can't change those things no matter what we do unless we are the people of the school board. Starting school a little early may be good in a different point of view but you must be forgetting that the staff of school will also have to wake up EARLIER. So not only did they think about what they thought was good for school but they did NOT think about their wants. I say school should start later but if a school decides to start earlier it is their decision and their free will that we cannot control.

[*tweeak*]

that's not entirely true. besides which, this is a topic in which we provide valid reasoning for why schools should start at a certain time. saying that's the way it is isn't going to cut it

[sadolakced acid]

wow, thanks for throwing my facts right back at me, those transportation issues.

already said, if that's a problem, screw it. schools should be about learning, not convenience.

and why can't after school activities move before school then?

[Paradox of Life]

Schools do start before 8 AM and there's nothing you can do about it. Saying 'should they be allowed' is as if all schools start 8 AM or later already. Mine starts at 7:20 AM. I don't think it matters what time school starts. If you can get enough sleep and function well, good. Whatever the curriculum thinks is reasonable should be reasonable enough. Although, I don't think it's reasonable to have to be at the bus stop at 7...

[*tweeak*]

we start at 7:15 and will still have some before school clubs. i make a point not to join them, but that's beside the point

and once again, the main purpose of this is for me to gather arguements for and against my point that our school should begin last than it does for the sake of our education. we're not trying to seirously make a difference here; it's not a petition, it's a debate so honestly, you cannot just say "many schools start before 8" because that's just giving in to the system and contains no persuasion at all.

[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.

[*xcaitlinx*]

definitely not. i think that high school should start around 9:00AM and end later because teenagers need the most sleep and according to studies, it's harder for us to fall asleep early (like 10pm) and get a good night's sleep.

[*RiC3xBoy*]

already said, if that's a problem, screw it. schools should be about learning, not convenience.

and why can't after school activities move before school then?

1. School should be about both. A school with good teachers but horrid convienence is bad as well as a school that opens after 8 but lacks educational quality.
2. Most sport activities last for at least 4-5 hours, so unless you want to start at 4 AM, that's not a good idea.

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.

1. If schools were fowarded, then it could be inconvienient(sp? sorry I suck at spelling) for bus drivers, students, parents, teachers alike.
2. As you said they need their sleep, so it is the students decision when to sleep, if they didn't get enough sleep, it is their fault, not the schools.

I love your opinions. You rock.

AWw...Thx. Here is a flower: