1. Elliot, P. (2013, September 4). Education chief: Maybe start school later in day. Austin American Statesman. Retrieved from http://www.statesman.com/news/ap/education/education-chief-maybe-start-school-day-later/nZmZZ/
2. Category of problem: Education
3. Level of problem: National, state, and local level (potential policy could be enacted at each level)
4. The article concerns: US Education Secretary suggests that high schools should start later in the day based on evidence showing decreased student performance due to sleep deprivation
5. Why is this important to families/individuals OR how does it affect individuals/families?
This is important to individuals and families because it has the potential to improve school performance. It will have far-reaching effects on families and individuals as a later start to school means a massive overhaul of school transportation systems, parents’ work schedules, and after-school jobs and activities for teenagers.
6. What are your views on the issue/policy?
There is a growing body of evidence showing that teenagers do not function well early in the morning and that delaying the start of school could have significant benefits to school performance, cognitive ability, and behavior. Therefore, we should enact policy allowing teenagers to operate on a schedule that more closely aligns with their circadian rhythm. This means high schools should start later in the day.
The Secretary of State is not the only one who believes that this policy is necessary. The article states that Patte Barth, director for the Center for Public Education at the National School Boards Association, also believes that teenagers function better later in the day. Barth, however, points out a sticky issue: who should enact this policy? Barth says that this should be a local decision as such a drastic change will mean extra costs to school districts that are already struggling for sufficient funds. Bus schedules would have to be changed and coordinated with other school schedules for elementary and middle school children. In addition, changing the school schedules may create additional burdens for parents. The current school schedule, after all, is designed to dovetail into the traditional 8 AM to 5 PM work day. By delaying the start of school, parents who have been able to transport their children to school may no longer be able to.
One issue with enacting this policy on a local level, however, is the need for high schools to have standardized schedules for extracurricular activities. If schools from separate districts have different school schedules, how can after-school activities such as athletics, music, and academic clubs and contests be scheduled? I also think that leaving this policy-making to local decision makers may increase the disparity between rich and poor school districts. School districts with access to more funds already have higher performing students. It would stand to reason that these school districts would financially be in a better position to make the switch, creating an even wider gap between the haves and the have-nots.
I think that a decent compromise would be to enact this type of policy of the state level. Perhaps after more schools make the change and the benefits are more widely documented, national policy could follow the vanguard of states that already made the change.
I’m agree with your point of view saying that school should start later in the day. There is another article that I read about the debate of children going to school later in the morning called “Sonoma County students, educators debate later start to high school days”. In this article it discuss how studies show that with just a difference from thirty minutes can make a huge improvement in adolescents performance in school and other extracurricular activities. I think is commons sense that when you sleep more and have the adequate rest your body is filled with energy the other day. In this case the adolescents at this stage of their lives start to experience many different problems in many ways such as relationships problems, family problems, alcohol, and problems with friends. For all this is obvious that an adolescent go more late to sleep and in consequence cause to be really tired the next morning to think in absorb all the information from their teachers. I really think this small change in modifying the time high school starts can make a huge impact in the performance of adolescents academically and emotionally. Attending school more regularly and improved moods may be also some of the advantages I think teens can achieve with this change in the education system.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130905/articles/130909729