Later Start Would Allow More Balance in Student’s Lives

Some high school students are busy with school, extracurriculars, and work all while dealing with a rigid schedule that doesn’t fit students’ needs; a more flexible schedule would be more beneficial for all students.

The article titled Schools Start too Early by the CDC said high school students need 8-10 hours of sleep, which students often lack, and recommend a school start time of 8:30. “Not getting enough sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks including being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.”

However, just shifting the school’s schedules to start later is not practical due to its effects. These reasons include the limits of the bus companies since it would force elementary schools to start later since most bus companies don’t have enough buses to operate for high school and middle school at the same time.

Some teens also work lower-paying jobs after school which is necessary for businesses to be properly staffed during rush hour.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in a report titled “School Enrollment and Work Status: 2011,” some students work at least part-time for part of the year. During the school year, “another 28 percent of high school students aged 16 and over worked less than full-time, year-round, while one percent of them were full-time, year-round workers.”

The article titled “Should Students Hold Jobs While in High School?” by Walden University said students learn the value of education, money, budgeting, time-management skills, and helps to keep teens out of trouble because, “without a job, teenagers must rely on other people’s money. Having a job gives students their own money and can help them understand the true value of a dollar.”

Interscholastic sports are also commonly played in high school. “Nearly eight million students took part in interscholastic sports in 2018,” according to data in the article “Participation in High School Sports Registers First Decline in 30 Years” on the National Federation of State High School Associations website.

Students build relationships, learn to understand themselves and their body better, and build foundations for lifelong fitness habits in extracurriculars according to the article “Participation in High School Athletics Has Long-lasting Benefits” by Dr. Steve Amaro.

The best compromise is to shift the school to a more flexible schedule to accommodate student’s lives outside of school. For example, offering students multiple virtual classes to do before or after activities. Students could start school later or on their own time, sleep in more, or working or participating in extracurriculars. Students would be able to learn while also gaining skills from jobs and extracurricular activities on top of skills learned in school with a more flexible schedule built to fit student’s needs.

This would be a solution that would address all the problems and most importantly is practical to implement.