How many times do you reach for snooze button every morning?  If Hammond were to have a later start, you could be well-rested and even perform better in school; while at the same time getting some extra sleep.  This brings up the question—Why does Hammond have an early start time at 8:00 a.m?  Do we need to have a delayed start time and if so why?  Is it just for the snooze button or are there other benefits?  The start time of our school is an extremely important issue, especially since many students are involved in several extracurricular activities and stay up late trying to finish all their assignments.

There is evidence from multiple studies that starting school at 8:30 a.m. or later, instead of 8:00 a.m., can improve students’ health and attention span. It has been shown that teenagers require eight to nine hours of sleep to function and succeed in school, but unfortunately few teens get these recommended hours. Chronic sleep deprivation can negatively impact teens, leading to higher rates of depression and more chances to develop health problems, such as obesity and heart issues.

Additionally, this early start time, could put teenagers who drive to school at a risk since they might be too tired and have slower reaction times, which could lead to higher accident rates. In fact, according to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, crash rates fell by 16.5% after a school changed its start time to an hour later. Recognizing these problems, many schools in the Washington state area have already started to delay school start times to 8:30 or later. Subsequently, they have seen improvements in students’ attendance and performance in school.

These numerous problems raise the question: Why do schools start so early? Many school boards make the argument that starting school later will force schools to have a later ending time. This seems to be a controversial issue; as it would delay the timing of sports practices and other after school activities. Though starting later will indeed affect this, it would be a small price to pay to improve the well-being and safety of the students in the long term. The many benefits offered by a delayed start offset this issue and can help kids to succeed and perform better in school.

I strongly recommend delaying the start of school at Hammond. Hammond is a popular and well reputable school that attracts students who have to commute long distances. Having a late start at Hammond would make it easier on these students, as well as improve their well-being and increase their focus in the classroom.  Starting later would also allow students to sleep for longer and reduce the number of tardy students and school absences.

Since it may be a challenge to implement this delayed start at our school, a solution could be to have a late start on just one day of the week.  For example, we could start at 8:30 or 8:45 a.m. on a Wednesday instead of at 8:00 a.m.  This could help the administration get an insight into whether starting later helps the students and assess if it will be beneficial as a permanent change.

I propose that our school day should start at least thirty minutes later, since it would allow our students to be well-rested and improve their performance. This would have a positive impact on their overall health and attention span in class.