Later School Start Time is Necessary and Beneficial to Adolescents

Your Name
Course Name
Course Code.
Professor
College/University
Title: Later School Start Time is Necessary and Beneficial to Adolescents
1.0 Introduction
Though a lot of research has been conducted on the effect of late school start time in elementary, middle and high school children, findings do not suggest a consensus as the subject remains elusive. While different researchers have attempted to make a deliberate attempt to highlight the importance of late start times on adolescent’s mental wellbeing, clear policy guidelines to regulate adolescent education are lacking. Therefore middle and high schools continue to implement early start hours, despite scientific, educational and medical findings that suggest that it’s detrimental to their learning outcome. In view of this evidence, this paper will argue in support of the position that late school start time is necessary and beneficial to adolescents and should be incorporated in the US educational policy.
2.0 Discussion and Analysis
Notwithstanding the traditional notion that more sleep is beneficial to students, recent research indicate that most adolescents experience delayed sleep-wake cycle as a result of endocrine rhythms that keeps them up late compared to their younger counterparts (Boergers, 2015). Notwithstanding this finding, American middle and high schools have been reported to have the earliest start times for adolescent students. This happens in spite of the findings that suggest pre-pubescent children have a high degree of mental alertness in the early hours compared to adolescents who get alert later in the day. Although there is credible research evidence to warrant late start times for elementary schools largely due to safety concerns, this does not affect their learning outcome. What caught my attention most was the finding that later start times could significantly improve student safety as well as their academic success, and yet policy makers have turned a blind eye to the available medical, scientific and educational evidence. Although I concur with the finding, I still hold the view that switching student pickup time is not a sufficient strategy to achieve this objective. My opinion is that late student pickup is not sure guarantee that students had enough sleep. However I agree with the finding that late pickup can improve student safety particularly for elementary school going children. According to Boergers (2015), a backward adjustment in the pickup and educational start times by at least half an hour could yield noticeable learning improvement in adolescents, even though the impact on elementary school children would be almost negligible. This position is supported by different research findings. For instance Boergers (2015) posits that later start times do not boost learning outcome in elementary students, but has a significant impact on adolescent’s learning outcome.
Conversely, Max et al (2017) argue that elementary school children’s achievement cannot be adversely affected by instituting early start times given that scientific research suggests young children are more alert in the morning while their adolescent counterparts get more alert later in the day. Yet elementary schools have a later start...