Should the time of day school starts and ends be changed?

[Mada438]

So my school sometimes has problems with attendance, especially going to roll call and period 1. I believe it's mainly because WE WANT TO SLEEP IN. After all, WE ARE TEEANGERS and what do teenagers like to do a lot? SLEEP.
You look at the "sign in late sheets" at our school and a lot of people put the reason for being late as "slept in"
At my school, the day starts at 8:30 (with a 15-minute roll call first up) and ends at 2:45
I have to be up at 6:30, to leave the house at 7:15, to be at the bus stop by 7:35, to get to school at 8:00 (thats the only bus that comes through my area). On a weekend, I'm usually out of bed at not much earlier than 9:00. By waking up at 6:30, i usually feel very tired and not want to do much because i haven't had enough sleep (and before you say it, I'm having a shower and in bed by 10:30, so I get a perfectly reasonable amount of sleep). A lot of people have similar issues to me and struggle to get up early in the morning before school. They (and I included) believe that the school day should start later.

I believe it should start at 10:00 am and finish at 4:00 pm, that way i get adequate sleep in the morning and still have enough time for extracurriculars and study after school.
What do you think? Comment the times your school starts and ends, and what you wish they were and why

[PhoenixxFire]

My school actually tried different start/end times.
The options were 8:50-3:30 (normal time)
7:15-1:30 (early start)
10:30-5 (late start)

The times don’t add up to be the same because of snack/lunch times.

Surprisingly, there were 3 early start classes that ran, but there were not enough students who wanted to do late start for it to run (there were only 3 students who wanted to do it). School size was around 800-900 students at the time.

I would definately prefer an earlier start, however it takes me over an hour to get to school and I don’t like mornings *that* much.

The problem with finishing later is that it makes it hard to do after school activities/work.

[TheAspiringDoc]

I think a compulsory *very* early start time is unfair on the students who have to travel >30 mins to school. Also, I think too late a start to the day (e.g. 10am) would leave a lot of people bored in the mornings.

[EEEEEEP]

My times were 8:30 to 3pm (sometimes 3:30pm)

I think 9am is reasonable as a time to start school. 7:30am is obviously too early, 11am .. I feel is too late. 11am starts would mess  with my schedule / routine and then I would be sleepy in the afternoon.

[snowisawesome]

does anyone here think 9:00-3:30 are ideal school hours?

[kauac]

does anyone here think 9:00-3:30 are ideal school hours?

That's exactly what my school has. I find it pretty reasonable...

[snowisawesome]

That's exactly what my school has. I find it pretty reasonable...

My school has these hours as well, but i'd honestly prefer if it was something like 7:00-1:30

[kauac]

My school has these hours as well, but i'd honestly prefer if it was something like 7:00-1:30

I feel like there is no wrong or right answer to what times school would be. It is mainly up to personal preferences...

I have a good morning routine going, so I appreciate not having to get to school too early... Having said that, my school is trialing morning classes - starting at 8am - for year 11. Soooo glad I don't have to go to those!

[Yertle the Turtle]

My school runs from 8:50-3:15, and I don't really have a problem with those times. What I do have a problem with is that it takes 1h to get there and 1 1/2h to get back

[Aaron]

This does not really set a good example for future work etc.

Do you get an option when you can start and finish when you start full time work? In majority of cases, no.

This is why we have rules and expectations (e.g. uniform) in schools, to get students in the habit of understanding that in life, you have rules/procedures/etc that you don't necessarily like or agree with, but have to put up with because it's a norm in society.

I'm not saying I don't agree with the change of time, but providing multiple options doesn't set a good example and definitely doesn't prepare students for later in life (which ideally is what school should be doing). I don't mind the idea of a 10am - 4pm day. I'm practically working at school until at least 4:30 every day anyway. I mean, is an hour really going to do much difference, questionable.

You look at the "sign in late sheets" at our school and a lot of people put the reason for being late as "slept in"

This is a separate issue (e.g. parents and lack of discipline/control) rather than evidence for changing school times. My school is in a similar situation (e.g. students continuously arriving late for no good reason) and imo has alot to do with SES and parent beliefs of education, rather than "sleepy teenagers".

Just my thoughts.

[spectroscopy]

I think my natural reaction is to go for 10am-4pm with no options for kids (ie: 10-4 become the standard hours and you cant pick if you start early or late). The circadian rhythym of a teenager naturally causes the delayed release of melatonin compared to adults and they naturally get sleepy later at night (I think a sleep lab study showed 1am for teenagers on average and 10pm for adults), but since teenagers still need like 8 hours of sleep, then I think sleep at 12:30, wake up at 8:30, get to school at 10 works great. Most afterschool activities that are school run will happen after school ends anyway, so I think 10-4 works great. instead of morning recess and lunch, youd have a lunch and afternoon tea and its easy.

[vox nihili]

I think my natural reaction is to go for 10am-4pm with no options for kids (ie: 10-4 become the standard hours and you cant pick if you start early or late). The circadian rhythym of a teenager naturally causes the delayed release of melatonin compared to adults and they naturally get sleepy later at night (I think a sleep lab study showed 1am for teenagers on average and 10pm for adults), but since teenagers still need like 8 hours of sleep, then I think sleep at 12:30, wake up at 8:30, get to school at 10 works great. Most afterschool activities that are school run will happen after school ends anyway, so I think 10-4 works great. instead of morning recess and lunch, youd have a lunch and afternoon tea and its easy.

Really agree with this.

There's really good evidence now that early start times for teenagers is just inconsistent with their biology. There's also really good evidence that this contributes to sleep deprivation, which is bad for their health and also bad for their performance at school. With all of that considered, I think there's a really good case to make start times for school than they are currently.

[Mada438]

I think my natural reaction is to go for 10am-4pm with no options for kids (ie: 10-4 become the standard hours and you cant pick if you start early or late). The circadian rhythym of a teenager naturally causes the delayed release of melatonin compared to adults and they naturally get sleepy later at night (I think a sleep lab study showed 1am for teenagers on average and 10pm for adults), but since teenagers still need like 8 hours of sleep, then I think sleep at 12:30, wake up at 8:30, get to school at 10 works great. Most afterschool activities that are school run will happen after school ends anyway, so I think 10-4 works great. instead of morning recess and lunch, youd have a lunch and afternoon tea and its easy.

I whole heartedly agree, and thats where my arguement comes in. from a biological point of view much better to get up later. I'd love to be able to wake up and go to school at 8:30 instead of 6:30

[brenden]

I’d definitely be in favour of later school starts. I genuinely don’t know why we have he schedule we have. Like, what’s the advantage of the early start? Is it so parents can drop their kids off before work? Honestly not sure.

10-4 is beautiful. Not so late a finish that you can’t work part time or whatever, not so early a start that everyone can get a good sleep.

[jazzycab]

Aside from the points already posted for not changing school times, logistically, it would be impossible to shift to 10am start uniformly with working parents. Certainly, most of you would be fine getting yourselves to school, but primary school and early secondary school creates another problem entirely with drop offs in particular