Early Schedule

                If it is easy for you to get up in the morning then you are lucky.  It seems like a lot of teenagers have trouble waking up early to go to school, or at least it is for me.  What should be the start time for school?  While many people have different opinions over this subject, many don’t consider the functionality of the teenager that has to wake up early to go to school.  I personally feel like a zombie when I have to go to school at seven in the morning.  What is the purpose of a student going to school so early in the morning if they can’t function properly enough to learn anything?

                It was recently decided in my school district that classes will now start at 6:45 in the morning and get done around 2:55 in the afternoon.  That seems like a lot of school time right?  Due to snow days we had to add time to our school day to make up the lost time.  It was already hard enough getting to class at seven but now we have to go in fifteen minutes earlier?!  Instead of being like a zombie, my functionality would be like a dead person.  There is a little exaggeration there obviously, but teenager’s brains aren’t even fully awake or functional until around ten in the morning.  This article explains teenager’s brains and sleep. 

                Along with getting up earlier to go to school, a student would then get home later and if that student is involved in extracurricular activities; they would be going to sleep later due to a later practice time.  It seems like there just isn’t enough time in a student’s day to sleep and do everything else.

                While this earlier start time may not seem like a big deal, it will impact a lot of students and their learning.  I expect to see more tardies in the morning because people can’t or won’t get out of bed that early in the morning.  While I am only thinking about the students because I am a student, a person would have to think about the teachers as well.  They would still have to get up as early if not earlier than the student’s.  A sleep deprived teacher is not a good thing and therefore we should consider starting school later in the day to make sure everyone gets enough sleep.