Should School Start Later for EJHS Students?

By: Norah Greathouse 2/10/2025

Should school start later for students at EJHS? This conflict-starting topic needs to be addressed, so, what is the real answer?

Many students at EJHS complain every morning about being tired, not feeling awake enough to work, and maybe even feeling ill. Many of them say the reason for their tiredness is that school starts so early. “An issue here is the sleep patterns of the teenage brain, which are different from those of younger children and adults. Due to the biology of human development, the sleep mechanism in teens does not allow the brain to naturally awaken before about 8 a.m. This often gets into conflict with school schedules in many communities.” says https://theconversation.com/ . Mia Forrester, a 6th grader at EJHS says “I think that EJHS should start later because no one can think early early early in the morning, and I hate it so much. It should start at like 8:00 or 9:30?” And Keaton Connors states “I think that EJHS should start at like 9:00 or 9:30, Cause I'm always tired.”

A student at EJHS is Sleeping.

If students say that they are tired many teachers might say that they need to get more sleep, or go to bed earlier, but, that isn’t always that easy. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ states “Teens experience a natural shift in circadian rhythm,’ says Johns Hopkins sleep expert Laura Sternie, M.D. This makes it more difficult for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m. Add in early school start times and an increase in homework, extracurricular activities and sometimes a part-time job, and sleep deprivation in teens becomes common. However, says Sterni, parents must help teens do the best they can because this age group needs more sleep than we might realize.”

A School bus for EJHS.

Multiple students in high school have cars that they drive to school every day, how could the school start time affect the way they drive? https://policylab.chop.edu/ states “...students report less depression, caffeine use, and drowsy driving, and fewer teen motor vehicle crashes are reported.” The school starting time could negatively affect many people's lives and that should be addressed. Although school starting later would help children in many different ways, it could affect the school district in many different ways as well. For instance, School buses would have a harder time picking students up from their houses, and some bus drivers have different jobs that also involve different schedules. “Pushing every school’s start back by 30 minutes to 90 minutes would involve between 10 and 19 extra buses, requiring an additional outlay each year from approximately $760,000 to some $1.5 million.” Similarly, staggered bus routes – where high schools start earlier and elementary schools stay the same – would lead to more time for the busses to complete their routes, but would increase costs for insurance, fuel, and wages for drivers.”

Although there are many benefits if school starts later, there are also benefits of school starting earlier, getting up earlier helps with being organized and prepared. Https://www.earlybeginningsdayschool.org/ says “Early education can help children develop essential skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking. Early education can help children develop a number of essential skills. One of the most important skills children can learn is solving problems.”

Some may argue, but, https://helpfulprofessor.com/ says that there are many benefits of school starting early, including, getting students to school faster, having benefits for work schedules, districts pool resources more effectively, and allowing more free time. https://www.quora.com/ states There are many reasons. Mostly, it's for convenience. Early start times allow parents to drop their kids off on their way to work. Also, they allow kids to be tutored after school, and athletes to travel to competitions without missing a significant amount of school.

A picture of EJHS in the morning.

In conclusion, the discussion about school start times has good points on both sides. Starting school later may help teens get better sleep and do better in school. On the other hand, starting earlier can help with organization and fitting in family schedules. Finding a middle ground is important to support both students and the school community.

Author’s bio: Norah Greathouse is a 6th Grader at EJHS who loves dogs, books, spending time with family and friends, doing gymnastics, doing cheer, and going to the beach!