High School Start Times:
How to Get Them on the Same Schedule as Adolescents' Biological Clocks
by Latesha Dean
In most high schools in North America, "the first bell" rings before 8 a.m. Thus, many adolescents are forced to wake up at 6:30 a.m., or even earlier. Once they are in class, these adolescents struggle to focus, and many a time to stay awake. In my senior year of high school, for example, I had to be in my first period class at 7:20 a.m., and so I had to leave my house at 6 a.m., when it was dark outside. During my first class, I found it hard to concentrate, even though it was my favorite subject, English. When the teacher spoke, all I heard was gibberish. Sometimes, I would even accidentally fall asleep. As a result of my behavior, I barely passed that class.
The situation described above is far too common among high schoolers who are forced to be in school early in the morning. Researchers, who for over 20 years have studied teen sleep, have confirmed this, as they have discovered that, due to the imposition of impractical high school start times, many teens are sleep deprived. Furthermore, they have discovered that adolescents' internal clocks conflict with high school start times. Convinced by this research, some schools have successfully delayed their start times. Aware of these schools' positive outcomes, some parents and educators have fought to have their high schools' schedules pushed back. This has led to an ongoing debate because, though they too are aware of the issues associated with early start times, other parents and teachers argue that such a delay would ultimately do more harm than good. It is clear that these competing views have no easy solution. Therefore, I will investigate whether or not delaying the high school schedule is the best solution. In order to accomplish this, I will do the following: discuss what a biological clock is and what role it plays in adolescents' sleep patterns; make prominent the effects of sleep deprivation; briefly mention the less effective solutions to the conflict between high school start time and adolescent sleep patterns; present both sides of the argument over the solution to delay high school start times; include adolescents' opinions about the solution to delay high school start times; incorporate outcomes of schools that have delayed their start times; and then, finally, draw my own conclusion about whether or not the high school schedule should be delayed.