Is waking up at nearly 5:00 in the morning a struggle for you as it is for all of us? Do you also wish that school days should start later in the day? Well, I’m writing this article to tell you the pros and cons of scheduling the start of the school day later.

         We have all had this feeling, wishing school would start later in the day. Not having to walk to the bus stop in the pitch-black darkness at 6:15 in the morning would be a relief. Although it would be much better to go to school maybe an hour or two later than the scheduled time, it does have its effects, and not just on us. I’m not saying that the time change shouldn’t happen, I just want to let you guys know the negatives if this glorious day would ever occur, and some of the positives because we all know this change should happen! Let’s start this roller coaster ride with the effects of starting school later in the day.

         We all know the truth, if the school day started later, it would be better for all of us. But here is the problem, we don’t want to affect other schools with our rule changes. If the local High Schools change their arrival schedule, it will affect the local elementary schools and middle schools. It affects other schools because, as soon as bus drivers drop off the high school students, some have to start their elementary and middle school runs immediately. There are obviously some negatives to doing this, but the positives put up a great fight. Studies have shown that even COVID affected students, going from online school to back in the classroom. A later start can also save money on transportation costs. Some districts adopt a later start to save up to 30% on their transportation costs. The new transport format could also help some parents in the morning with getting to work, rather than at earlier times, which could affect them.

One of the most talked about things in this topic is the sleep schedule with teens. On average, students usually wake up between 8 and 9 AM, and the first school class usually starts before that. Healthline.com, spoke about the problem, and this is what they had to say, “Adjusting the time school starts by even an hour could help students, in their brains, and bodies. The healthy start time for middle and high school students is 8:30 or later. This is critical to help students gain the right amount of sleep, which is essential for all aspects of health and well-being. And it could also improve the mental health of some students.” with this new rule being talked about, many studies were taken to see how well it would work out. Many studies have the moods and emotions of students show that with this new sleep schedule, both parties, middle school, and high school, didn’t oversleep during weekends, fewer students reported being too sleepy to do their homework, and scores in academic engagement were “significantly higher” for both groups. The new times could also help students who have extra activities after school and could give them more time after school, which could make them much more productive.

There are a fair share of pros and cons about the start of school being changed. And while it may be a tough task to achieve, I think I speak for a lot of people saying it would be ideal for all of us!