Students, especially high school students, hate the early mornings. So, why make school start early? Some claim that starting the school day later would improve students’ grades and, most importantly, their overall health.
Everyone has a circadian rhythm to guide their internal schedule. Circadian rhythms are changes, such as mental and physical, that are in a 24-hour cycle. The most notable part of the circadian rhythm affects the sleep cycle. When it gets darker outside, the brain will make more melatonin to get ready to sleep. As adults, the circadian rhythm stays the same; only outside influences such as jetlag will affect it.
But middle and high school students undergo changes to their circadian rhythm. Teenagers naturally experience later sleep times and require waking up later. A few factors that affect students’ later bedtimes are extracurricular activities after school and technology use that impedes melatonin production. Still, there is only one major outside factor that affects all students: school.
Before the pandemic, Barstow Upper and Middle School did start at 8:15. Now, Barstow has a later start time compared to other schools in the Kansas City area. A lot of high schools in the KC area, such as Lincoln and Paseo, start at around 7:15 versus Barstow’s start time of 8:30. Schools should start at 8:30 or later, according to the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics, so Barstow is ahead in that respect.
“I feel like [the start time] is good, I have seen that other schools end a lot earlier, which I would prefer so I can do other things during the day. I think [Barstow] is one of the latest starting schools in the KC area. Other schools start at 7:45,” Charlie Hisle (‘23) said.
Barstow does start at the recommended time, according to the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, but it still could consider starting at a later time. Barstow students are notorious for working too hard, so starting later would help them get the recommended 8-10 hours.
“School used to start earlier, so I am not going to complain about the later start. It lets me just plan more, sleep in a touch more, and be more prepared. I like 8:30,” Lizzie Boyce (‘23) said.
But the Lower School’s start and end times do not need to change. Younger students do not need the same start time and could start even earlier. A study has shown that the early rise times for elementary students have little to no effect on absences or grades.
One study in Rhode Island that changed a school’s start time to 8:30 showed that students were more alert during the day and less irritable. Students reported fewer doctor visits about fatigue-related problems, and more students showed up for their first class. So, if Barstow started around 8:45-9:00, students would have improvements to all aspects of their lives.
“I would not go too much later because it would get out of hand, possibly 9:00 AM, but it would also affect our end time,” Boyce explained.
“If we were keeping the same amount of time in the day, I would say 8-3, so we can get through extracurriculars and do homework,” Hisle added.
The only problem with starting later is the end time. Students want to start earlier to be able to leave earlier. In an ideal situation, Barstow could start at 9-3:30, so students can sleep later but still leave early enough to do extracurriculars. Across the United States, schools have an average of 6.64 hours in the day, so Barstow would fit with 6.5 hours in the day.
Barstow does well to make sure students are alert enough for the first classes by starting school at 8:30, but the administration should still consider pushing back start times. Later start times would help students with their overall health and grades.
