Disproving Arguments Against Later School Start-Times
Nothing in the world is perfect and everything is bound to have advantages and disadvantages, even an idea as beneficial as delaying school start times. Critics’ concerns are valid, but easy to argue against. The pros outweigh the cons and waking up later in the morning would improve the quality of the lives of adolescents.
A multitude of people argue that the earlier somebody wakes up, the more productive they are. In their minds, attending school at the crack of dawn only strengthens adolescents’ performances. While waking up early may do wonders for a person who sleeps from 9 pm to 5 am’s health, it is inappropriate when applied to teenagers who regularly stay awake until 2 in the morning. Schools do not begin at times that foster success, instead initiating learning times that prevent teenagers from receiving a full eight hours of sleep. Waking up late is only detrimental to one’s well-being when one arises late into the afternoon, but certainly not at nine as opposed to six.
Early-starters also worry that making the shift would minimize the existence of extracurricular activities. Changing the hours of the school day would be a community-wide decision that risks deterring the times of proceedings, including sports, church, and clubs. These are extremely important manners, considering they can make or break a child’s chances of getting into college, so it is crucial we take them into careful deliberation regarding this debate.
While those effects’ fears that the times any events that occur directly after school begins will have to be changed is true, they are failing to take into mind that these later hours will provide students with advantages that last all day. If we do not force them to awaken before the sun rises, they will have more energy to take part in these activities they are members of. Therefore, the results they receive will increase in quality and reward them with more satisfaction and experience.
Maintaining a healthy Circadian Rhythm could lead to increased alertness, performance, and a more efficient core body temperature and metabolism according to Lockley, Foster, and Kelley’s piece Synchronizing education to adolescent biology: ‘let teens sleep, start school later’, which are all factors that contribute to better health and more beneficial life. If teenagers who did after-school activities were at their full-potentials, they would gain more from what they did. For example, if a track runner was not obligated to awaken before receiving a healthy night’s worth of sleep – the recommended sleep time for adolescents – they would without a doubt run quicker in a race than if they had for four hours. With only a whole extra hour of sleep, children in youth groups and church organizations could better process the scriptures conveyed to them and recall them at later points in their lives. Delaying these times would be worth the profit gained from it.
Judith A. Owens, Katherine Belon, and Patricia Moss conducted an experiment where they studied how changing the time school started in a Rhode Island district impacted their students. Their discoveries presented only improvements in efficiency. As stated in their study on the manner, Impact of Delaying School Start Time on Adolescent Sleep, Mood, and Behavior, “The percentage of students reporting participating in sports, homework, and other after-school activities was similarly high at both surveys,” and “the percentage of students rating themselves as at least some what unhappy or depressed also decreased significantly.” Not only did more teenagers intensify their comprehension and academic performance by feeling better about themselves and completing their homework, but they were also more likely to join sports and clubs. They will get the chance to make friends through this process and further indulge in their interests when they are awake. These developments give them a stronger shot at getting into colleges and living a joyful and triumphant life.
Many are doubtful that changing the starting times of schools would be for the better because they insist children will stay up even later in response to the alteration. The result would be them obtaining the same amount of rest as they would have in the first place. This scenario was tested by a large group of researchers in a review titled Sleepmore in Seattle: Later school start times are associated with more sleep and better performance in high school students, who claim that deferring the beginning of classes, “led to a significant lengthening of daily sleep of over half an hour,” which more specifically was “a lengthening in the median daily sleep duration from 6 hours and 50 min to 7 hours and 24 min.” The improved time was closer to the eight hours of sleep a teenager should receive and would lead to them gaining more healthy minds and bodies.
Because students are so exhausted, if they have the chance to spend more time awake at night, they will decline it. Their bodies are used to going to bed at a certain time and they will continue to honor this, or at least fall victim to growing increasingly tired as the hour approaches. Authors Perkinson-Gloor, Lemola, and Grob addressed this issue and tested whether students who started school later received more sleep. Their findings embedded within their article Sleep duration, positive attitude toward life, and academic achievement: The role of daytime tiredness, behavioral persistence, and school start times showed that just a twenty-minute delay in the time school commenced resulted in teenagers getting sixteen extra minutes of sleep. Even an increase as minuscule as this reduced the amounts of daytime tiredness they experienced. They allowed themselves to experience additional rest and, in response, prospered.
A great deal of high-school students are even in support of shifting when school starts with hopes to gain those extra thirty minutes to an hour of shut-eye and waking up feeling ready to take on an entire day of learning and socialization. In attempts to research the link between high-school students who wish to get more sleep compared to the quantity of rest they actually gain, Strauch and Meier found that “the wish for more sleep was very pronounced, varying between 54.3% and 74.5% across the years,” which they revealed in their analysis Sleep need in adolescents: A longitudinal approach. The purpose of schools is to benefit and educate adolescents, so it is counterintuitive that they would not consider their comfort or welfare when manufacturing their policies. Because children feel as if they are feeling unrefreshed throughout the school day following an incomplete night of sleep, guidelines should adjust accordingly.
A slew of benefits overshadows any downside of modifying the hours of high schools across the country teenagers will receive from the conversion. They not only receive hours of sleep that better reflects their recommended amount, but also improve every aspect of their lives. It increased the likelihood of them doing their work in a timely and efficient manner due to the heightened retention skills and boost in energy they will experience. Children who already participate in sports improve at them while those who are too sleepy to attend after-school activities are more likely to sign up. Each of these positive outcomes will in turn benefit the working class of America, forming successful workers more eligible to obtain higher-level occupations. Overall, the change leads to happier lives for high-school students, and it is unfair that we are holding them back from this because of a few doubts that are easily disproved.
Bibliography
Dunster, Gideon P., et al. “Sleepmore in Seattle: Later School Start Times Are Associated with More Sleep and Better Performance in High School Students.” Science Advances, vol. 4, no. 12, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau6200.
Kelley, Paul, et al. “Synchronizing Education to Adolescent Biology: ‘Let Teens Sleep, Start School Later.’” Learning, Media and Technology, vol. 40, no. 2, 2014, pp. 210–226., https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2014.942666.
Owens, Judith A., et al. “Impact of Delaying School Start Time on Adolescent Sleep, Mood, and Behavior.” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, vol. 164, no. 7, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.96.
Perkinson‐Gloor, N., Lemola, S., & Grob, A. (2013). Sleep duration, positive attitude toward life, and academic achievement: The role of daytime tiredness, behavioral persistence, and school start times. Journal of Adolescence, 36(2), 311–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.11.008
Strauch, I., & Meier, B. (1988). Sleep needs in adolescents: A longitudinal approach. Sleep, 11(4), 378–386. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/11.4.378
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Counterintuitive Fall 2022 
Hi! I finally got something done not only on time but early haha. I need to do this for every assignment from now on because it took a lot of weight off my shoulders. You were right when you said that when we are stuck, we should just force ourselves to start writing and see where that takes us.
I would like feedback on if my arguments are strong enough to fight against the doubts people have. That’s really vague though, so maybe they are relevant to what is being debated and if they completely disprove the opposing side’s point. I had to really think outside the box to fight against some of the harder arguments but I think I did pretty well at it. Is there anything you think I should add?
Thank you so much and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Thanks, AT. I did enjoy the rest of my weekend!
—This is logical and reasonable.
—It’s also wordy.
—”Even an idea as advantageous as later start times for school has its critics.” I think that’s a fair substitute for your entire paragraph.
—Call them “critics,” AT, or “early-starters,” or some other term that will have you having to refer to them as “those against beginning class later than high school’s average time.”
—It’s too vague to say the late start time would “affect” kids. Affects can be positive or negative. They’re not worried about positive “affects,” are they? What can you say besides “affects” that’s always negative?
—It’s too vague to say the late start time would “alter the times” of other activities. Alterations can be positive or negative. They’re not worried about positive “time shifts,” are they? What can you say besides “alter” that’s always negative?
—Not just sports, but all extra-curricular activities help students build resumes that can “affect”—I mean “enhance” their chances of getting into jobs or colleges. Right?
—Your “they” is unclear, AT. Are the critics exclusively students? “Their worry” could clearly include parents, teachers, others. But “will benefit them” as well refers to students only, I presume.
—A phrase that might help you sell this refutation would be: “benefits that last all day” or “that last through the school day and after” or “all the way to bedtime.”
—Circadian
—To be at all convincing, these claims rest on the readers’ belief that a later start time will in fact result in more sleep for students. You need to keep convincing them of that, I’m afraid. Clever hints like “if they had an extra hour to sleep in the morning,” or “if they were not roused from sleep before they received 8 hours a night,” reinforce the idea of getting recommended sleep AND EMPHASIZE THE MORNING without referencing the night before.
—Once you have readers nodding: “Yes, more morning sleep WOULD BE beneficial,” it will be safer to introduce the objection about staying up later.
—Your evidence is well placed to help overcome the objection once you’ve softened the position.
—”statistics show” is pretty weak tea, AT. I know I wouldn’t buy it.
—Your reasoning is thoughtful, but a source for that “many hope to gain more sleep” reference would be better, if there is one.
—Ask for help on count/noncount nouns. You’re measuring students by the pound here, not the person.
I have Zooms now.
I’ll come back when I can.
Respond in the meantime if you see this before I return.
🙂
Provisionally graded. This post is always eligible for a Regrade after significant Revision.
Please reply to the feedback I’ve provided and ask for more when you have a good idea how I can be most helpful.
Because students are so exhausted, it is likely that even if they have the chance to increase the hours they spend awake at night, they will not. Their bodies are used to going to bed at a certain time and statistics show they will continue to honor this, or at least fall victim to growing increasingly tired as the hour approaches. A great deal of them are even in support of shifting when school commences with hopes to gain those extra thirty minutes to an hour of shut-eye and waking up feeling ready to take on an entire day of learning and socialization. The tiny amount of them who would abuse the privilege of starting school at a belated time are minimal compared to those who would make the most of it.
—Not sure why you insist on undercutting the value of your claims.
—If students will stick to their accustomed bedtimes regardless of school start times, and if you have evidence for that, cite the evidence and say nothing more.
—If you have evidence that students favor the later start times “in order to get more sleep,” cite that evidence and say nothing more.
—Let someone else worry about “the tiny NUMBER of them who would abuse the privilege.” If they have evidence, they should cite it. You don’t have to help them.
A multitude of people argues that the earlier somebody wakes up, the more productive they are. In their minds, attending school at the crack of dawn only strengthens adolescents’ performances. Though, this belief is a myth, because while waking up at eight in the morning may do wonders for a person’s health, doing so at five in the morning after falling asleep at two definitely does not. Schools do not begin at appropriate times to foster success. They instead initiate learning at times when it is still dark outside, or when countless amounts of teenagers on summer vacation would not even have slept yet. On the other hand, awakening at one in the afternoon is detrimental to one’s well-being, but not at nine as opposed to six.
—You might state your objection in a slightly more deliberate way that is also respectful. While waking up at five in the morning is healthy and sustainable for adults who sleep from 9pm to 5am, it certainly won’t be effective for teens who stay up until 2 in the morning.
—Unclear why “still dark outside” matters. If you have some evidence that doing so is counterproductive to learning, by all means cite it.
—Completely perplexed by the relevance of the summer vacation evidence.
—Equally perplexed by the relevance of the one in the afternoon example.
I looked at your feedback carefully and updated my essay accordingly. I fixed some of my language to sound more credible and also added more sources to better prove my points. I switched around the order of some of the paragraphs in a way I thought flowed better and took your suggestion about the timing of bringing What I need feedback on is the count/noncount nouns because I looked it up and I’m still a little confused about how I could fix this issue in my own work when referring to students. I also want to know if I sound more firm in my beliefs. You said that I undercut the value of my claims and I tried to fix the parts where I noticed I was doing that, but I also do it unintentionally sometimes. Thank you so much for your help!
I’m impressed with your improvements and see very little evidence of count/noncount confusion. You DO have trouble with subject/pronoun number; I’ve noted all that I found.
I believe I’ve addressed your other question, too, AlwaysTired, by pointing out, and in most cases recommending solutions, to the problems you cause yourself by yielding territory to the “other side” of the argument.
Regraded and STILL always eligible for a Regrade following substantial Revision.
Here you refer to people (plural), then somebody (singular), then they are (plural).
—The first case is fine. Many people argue. No problem
—The second case is incorrect. Somebody can’t be they.
When you invent a term like “early-starters,” you need to instruct your readers the first time they encounter it. It’s worth the trouble.
—Try: “Advocates of keeping the current early start schedule (early-starters) worry that making the shift [to a later start time] would minimize the existence of extracurricular activities.
—”minimize the existence”? or maybe: “threaten the viability”?
Here you give WAY too much weight to the objection without immediately countering.
Replacement copy:
In the Lockley Foster paragraph, you’re fine when you stick to plurals for students, but you get into trouble when you highlight a singular track runner.
—If you want the track runner example to apply to both male and female runners, the safest bet is to stay with plurals.
Here’s your chance to cash in on your nickname:
—Early-starters insist children will stay up even later (and get no additional sleep!) in response to a shift to later start times, but this has been disproven. Researchers in Seattle showed that delaying school start times “led to a significant lengthening of daily sleep of over half an hour”! The review, titled
Lose this:
—Do you see how breaking up the statistical evidence and the placement of the title in the middle 1) helps provide quick confirmation, 2) uses the title as part of your argument, 3) nails down the details of the improvement to provide credibility, 4) is easier to read?
The next researchers had questions when they started, but they published ANSWERS. Why tease us with the question?
—Authors Perkinson-Gloor, Lemola, and Grob RESOLVED THIS QUESTION when THEY DEMONSTRATED THAT students who START later RECEIVE more sleep.
I don’t remember seeing Strauch and Meier before. It’s wonderful to include the WISHES of conscientious students as part of your argument!
Why comfort the “enemy” even a little bit? Have you discussed any downsides that you need to acknowledge? Has the “other side” proven any?
—In the absence of any proven downside, the slew of benefits of delayed start times should put an end to the debate.
Your tenses waver throughout what follows. Are you reporting on improvements that have already occurred, surmising how unreported students benefit, or speculating on how students WILL benefit if schools adopt your recommendation? Pick the strongest one.