The Advantages of Beginning Classes Late

張貼日期：Dec 11, 2015 6:4:2 AM

Jane Tsao

A controversial issue on the influence of beginning classes later or earlier has sprung up recently. Some people consider that students should arrive at school at 7:30 a.m. Others consider that school should begin classes one or two hours later every morning. In my opinion, school should start class time at 8:30 a.m. The following are the three aspects of my consideration: the attendance, the adolescent sleep, and the academic performance of the students.

Firstly, the attendance in the early morning class is low. For example, college students are often late for school. If the classes begin at 8 a.m., students won’t arrive on time except on the midterm and final exam days. Students of our school usually come to class after 9 a.m. The only reason why they come to the early class is the professors always do the roll call or ask them to sign a signature. However, if the professors do not care about their participation, they will skip the class. Therefore, only when professors strictly require students to come to class will they show up on time for the early class.

Second, many adolescents go to bed after midnight. Taiwanese students usually go to cram school after school in order to go to a good public school. They have to study as hard as they can. Cram schools usually start classes at 6:30 p.m. and end up at 9:30 p.m. When students arrive home, it is almost over 10 p.m. They still need to take a bath, review what they have learned at school and complete homework. Not until they finish these things can they sleep. Besides, many students usually stay up late for preparing for the quizzes next day. They generally sleep fewer than 6 hours. However, studies show that teenagers need more sleep during their puberty; otherwise, their health will not be negatively affected. Therefore, if students must wake up early for the class, their sleeping hours will be deprived. And thus, they will have an unhealthy body.

The last but the most vital is some research suggests that the academic performance of students is related to how much they sleep every night. If students have enough sleep, their brain will be clearer. Besides, the research also points out that students should go to school after 10 a.m. The reason is the learning condition of students is the best during the period of the time. Students can be more attentive to the lecture, which will help them focus on what they are learning.

To sum up, I consider schools should start classes one or two hours later every morning. If students are required to come to school very early, but their brain does not function well, it is actually harmful to them. Although it is a challenge to change our policy, we should adjust the existing system and take the experts’ research into consideration.