New Providence has, and is, making a lot of changes in the school and the town such as altering the traffic pattern, making the middle school schedule the same as the high school, adding more holidays to the school year, and more. Another important adjustment the High School should consider would be to change the school start time to no earlier than 8:30 am.
High School students’ afternoons are filled with sports, homework, jobs, studying, clubs, chores, dinner, etc. The opinion that the only reason students are tired in the morning is because they stay up too late is accurate, but the opinion that it is to waste time on social media isn’t. Many students have so much to do in the afternoons that they don’t have any time for a social life or for themselves.
In general, the reasons that High School administrations seem to be against making the change are that some parents have to work early, school activities/sports may go later in the evening, and high schools don’t want to “coddle” or “spoil” students because they need to learn to have an adult schedule. For example, if NPHS wanted to start at 8:30, in order for there to still be a 6 hour school day, excluding lunch and passing period, dismissal would have to be around 3-3:30. Sports practices as of now begin at 3:05 and can keep students until 5:30, but if the school day began at 8:30, sports would have to be pushed back 30 minutes, potentially keeping student-athletes at school until 6:00. This can be an issue for fall and winter sports, especially those held outdoors in the fall because of how early it gets dark out.
However, high schools that have switched to starting at 8:30 are reported to have better attendance/graduation rates, academic/sports performance, and much lower car accident rates from sleepy teens.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends, “school boards, and educational institutions to implement start times of 8:30 a.m. or later for middle schools and high schools to ensure that every student arrives at school healthy, awake, alert, and ready to learn.”
In addition, The American Academy of Pediatrics states that, “middle and high schools should aim for a starting time of no earlier than 8:30” and that by doing this there are better effects and benefits for teens including reduced obesity risk, lower rates of depression, fewer drowsy driving crashes and improved quality of life.
Starting school early in the morning is negatively affecting schools more than it is benefiting them. In addition to improving student health and safety, a later start time would have positive effects on school and athletic performance.