Schools should start at 9am. 

Julia

Many schools start before 8 A.M., including ISM. There is a lot of research which proves that school should at 9 AM. If school started later, there would be a lot of positive effects on students, teachers, and basically the whole school. Therefore, school should start at 9:00 A.M.

There are many reasons why I believe school should start later. Many students now don’t have time to eat breakfast, usually they might just grab something small, and if school started later it would let them have a healthy nutritious meal before a long and tiring day at school.

 In the morning, there is traffic in Metro Manila and BGC which causes many students to be late. Even if they take the bus, they arrive late often. 

There are also some long-term health concerns regarding this subject: 

Teenagers, or students in middle school and high school, only produce melatonin later in the night, so it would just make more sense if classes started later. According to multiple studies, students have less of a chance to be depressed, anxious, or fatigued, and improve in physical activities like sports if they get more sleep. Your brain releases endorphins during exercise, so if you’re too tired to play sports you’ll probably be in a bad mood too.

To sum things up, students aren’t getting enough sleep and can’t function properly without it. That is why it would be reasonable if school started an hour and half later. 

Margarethe 

ISM and other schools in Manila have an early start. One reason for that is traffic. School leaders have decided the school should start early to avoid traffic. Students say school should start later because they want more sleep, but starting school later will not solve that issue. School shouldn't start later, the school time should remain the same.

If school starts later, we will spend more time in traffic than we already do. We will spend more time in traffic because if we leave later then we are going to school at the same time that all people in Manila are going to work. Right now we are getting to school ahead of the work traffic. On our way back home, it will be the same because if we leave later we would be going home the same time everyone else in Manila is going home too.

Another reason is the time. The time is a big issue connected to the traffic. So one reason we shouldn’t start later is we will end later. Many of us have after school activities. When students get home they usually are exhausted. Something all students have to do when they get home is homework. Depending on how much homework they have the later it will be. Teenagers need their sleep so they can’t stay up all night doing homework. 

The traffic and time issue will not change. Therefore, the school start time should not change. The School starting time  should remain the same.

Christine

ISM classes start at 7:30 am with the rule strictly enforced for all grades. It’s made for more learning to occur in classrooms and for school to then end at a time that doesn’t interfere with daily schedules and routines. But does this really improve the learning of students? Some teachers may say so. In reality, 7:30 am is too early for students to be at school, to learn and get on with their days. 

If the school day started later, it would be a better time for students to learn. Many students arrive to their first block rubbing their eyes or yawning. Also, according to sleep Dr. Micheal Breus, timing is everything. The time when learning is most effective is 10 am to 2 pm. During that time, students will be more focused and already much more awake and alert. 

If the school day started later, it could reduce the time teens or children are left alone. Afterschool many students go home straight away but since their parents may be at work it is harder for them to concentrate. Most teens suffer from procrastination so even though they may try to work, their afternoons may be wasted and they might instead watch videos or play games. If they come home later, closer to when their parents come home from work as well, their parents can make sure they complete their homework and make them more productive.

In conclusion, the school day should start later due to the fact that it can improve learning and reduce procrastination which will, in fact, help many students and make them happy. It may only need to start a little later, but that can make a difference in the attitudes of students.

Beeke  

ISM and other schools in Manila have an early start. One reason 

The average school day at ISM begins at 7:30 am and ends at 3 PM. The first few days after a week off, students scramble to get to school on time, not being used to the early wake-up. But it only takes a bit for everyone to get accustomed to the normal school cycle of ISM. Many complain, but the truth is that the early start was initiated for a reason.

The majority of students have a negative view of the early start, stating that they don’t get enough sleep. They argue that it affects their grades and contributes to their loss of focus during school. However, often, students don't have enough sleep because they themselves went to bed late. This is their job and they should take responsibility by doing homework and going to bed earlier than they currently do.

One of the key factors in the decision to start school so early is Manila Traffic. Manila has the third-worst traffic rates in southeast Asia, and it’s difficult to get anywhere without being stuck in a sea of cars and buses. This slows down the time it takes to get to school by an insane amount, and starting school at an earlier hour reduces the amount of time many students have to spend stuck in traffic.

Elaborating, if school starts later than school also has to end later. Say you push ISM’s start time to 9:00 AM. As a result, school ends at 4:30 which makes it more difficult to attend extracurriculars, tutoring and complete homework assigned in school. Overall, this would just make the day a lot more difficult for students, as they would have a lot less time to complete everything they previously planned.

In conclusion, ISM beginning at 7:30 AM, an hour considered quite early, is a good decision as traffic can cause students to be stuck for hours while on their way to school. A later starting time means less time for tutoring, homework, and extracurriculars. So, it’s easy to see that ISM’s judgment regarding school start time is both understandable and supported by facts.