Preview

School Hours Persuasive Letter

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1040 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
School Hours Persuasive Letter
Dear Editor,

It was disheartening to read in the Canberra Times on the 12th of December 2013, that all schools in the state are contemplating increasing the length of a school day from 7-9 hours. In the article “Howard calls for change in school hours?” John Howard, our Prime Minister, is attempting to convince the public that ‘children going to school longer hours will benefit them and their children more than having a normal length school day’. He claims our current school system is out of date and doesn’t reflect current trends where both parents work long hours. Clearly what he has failed to do is realise the cost of sending students to a private schools, the negative impact on adolescence’s sleep, and the effects of loss of extra
…show more content…
Not only the that but ‘others are living with borderline-to-serious sleep deficits that could lead to daytime drowsiness, depression, and poor performance at school.’ (Center for Advancing Health, 2010). “The natural sleep-wake pattern shifts during adolescence, making earlier bed time and wake times more difficult. The result for students with early school start-times, (longer school hours) is a enduring sleep deficits,” said lead study author Danice Eaton, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Center for Advancing Health, …show more content…
It prevents them from going outside and kicking a ball around or enjoying time with friends and family. For example my year twelve daughter is already juggling a busy schedule packed with homework and extra-curricula activities. So lengthening school hours would result in her sacrificing her extra-curricula activities to make room for sleep and homework. Either that or she won’t sleep at all. Although academic work is vital, aren’t extra-curricular activities also significant for students because they teach responsibility, resilience and teamwork? In fact, most schools require a wide variety of activities for every student. But these important activities are often cancelled due to lack of time in school and homework. Surely having less time in school could allow students the freedom to discover other interests that are fulfilling and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Based on my own personal experience, I agree with this article. I think that sleep deprivation poses a public health issue. Not getting enough sleep affects our grades, and how well we do in school. Along with some physical disadvantages, there are some psychological as well. In the article, it said, “...neural remodeling is important for learning and memory.” The quiet time can be good for strengthening or weakening certain neurons. Sleep is a significant thing for students to get so that they are mentally and physically ready to accomplish all of the hard tasks for the next day. I gathered some details from an article that stated, “There have been many studies proving that starting school later on in the day will promote students learning…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main reasons early school start times are bad for teenagers is that it makes them seriously sleep deprived. When waking up around 6 or 7 a.m., students are lucky to get making 6 hours of sleep, when they’re supposed to get about 9 hours, because they stay up doing homework or another activity they were supposed to do the night before. In the article “School Start Times and Sleep”, the author explains this topic in more detail by saying “Evidence suggests that teenagers are indeed, seriously sleep…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Consequently, The vast majority of teenagers who attend early starting schools arrive in a sleep-deprived state. Because students are unable to fall asleep early, and cannot sleep in, there is a chronic sleep deficit in teens who have early start times. “Not getting enough sleep can lead to illnesses such as depression, attention deficit disorder, poorer quality of life, and other mood disorders,” (webmd). Among these health conditions, students’ physical health is at risk with conditions such as: obesity, diabetes, and becoming more injury…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Research has demonstrated that the normal teenager’s bedtime to fall asleep would be 11pm or later, because of this change in their internal clocks teens may be wide awake laying in bed even when they are extremely tired. (Wolfson & Carskadon, 1998). “Also research has proven that sleep deprivation has a major negative impact on organization and ability, so it makes sense for prepared and rested students and athletes perform better sports wise and academically” (NS Foundation). Nevertheless, students will be used to there normal sleeping pattern and will be able to perform quite well in school and sports, which will drop the crash rate percent (NS Foundation).…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If you had the choice, would you choose to sleep or go to school? Wouldn’t you want school to start later so you could get your nine hours? Well, it’s not as ideal as it seems. For the past few years, the Littleton Public Schools district, along with other school districts around the country, discussed the idea of the change of school start and end times. For the most part of this school year, the district has started to ask parents and students for their opinions and to come up with different solutions that will appeal to everyone. One of the biggest reasons that the district would need to change the times befalls the lack of sleep that students receive. Pamela McKeever, the leader of a study of adolescent sleep said that, "...research explains…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Have you ever woken up feeling groggy and not wanting to go to school or do anything at all? As a result, many students go to school late or do not academically progress and participate in class. According to the Scholastic Scope article “Should School Start Later?” by Justin O’Neil and the article “Sleepy Teens: High School Should Start Later in the Morning” by Mark Fischetti, many schools are considering starting school later to help students succeed academically. Students have more trouble concentrating in class because they are not getting enough sleep. Some students arrive at school later because they oversleep. To make sure that there is less tardiness and the academic growth increases, schools are looking…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    High schools throughout the United States start their school day at times that are too early for students. Teenagers have a biological wake time, and when schools start early in the morning, it interferes with teens biological clock. According to a study done by Harvard Medical School, young adults need at least nine hours of sleep every night. The study also shows that the need for sleep is never greater in our lives than it is during adolescence, but yet the conflict between school and sleep is at it’s highest while teens are in high school. Many educators believe that if teens just went to bed earlier, they would…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to Wolfson and Carskadon's 1998 study, “26 percent of high school students routinely sleep less than 6.5 hours on school nights, and only 15 percent sleep 8.5 hours or more” (Carpenter). In result to that, many adolescents try to sleep longer on weekends to “catch up” on their sleep hoping it will contribute to the tiredness they will feel the following Monday morning. There are many statistics that show how dramatic the effects of not getting enough sleep are on a teenager’s…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In that manner, it is true. “A National Sleep Foundation Poll showed that 59 percent of middle-school students and 87 percent of high-school students are getting less than the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep a night that they need for their physical and mental health”(Hungelmann). So, that meaning that students can’t focus in school so much because they are tired. “Students at later starting schools get more sleep, perform better academically”(“The Impact” 1). Parents love to see their children doing very well in school.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Researchers have found that 59% of middle schoolers and 87% of high schoolers are getting less than the recomended 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night (National Sleep Foundation). “Conflicts between parents and school districts”(Pediatricians Say School Should Start Later for Teens Health) the conflict with starting school later has had a lot of controversy. Parents think that it is horrifically challenging to move schedules up and back with the school districts. Why? Parents have busy schedules with work and have to change their work setting or call into their job and say that they are late. It is a very confusing aspect because students want to start later for the better benefit of them. On the other hand parents have to get to work early and make sure that there kids are at school at the same time. Parents seem to struggle abundantly when it comes to school starting later. Sometimes they have to call someone to take their kids because they have a different working schedule than their kids going to school. It is a very beneficial change that people in schools need to look into because students seem to like the idea of it. It benefits them on their sleep and the way the day…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The majority of Students stay up late even on school nights, if students had a hour later to get ready they wouldn't be as tired and failing classes and not wanting to do anything while they're at school. In the article Backgrounder by the national sleep foundation, “Later school start times” It states “research shows that adolescents require as much sleep as they did as a children generally, 8 1/2 to 9 ¼”(1). This shows that adolescents aren't getting enough sleep as they should be to have to wake up early and go to school. Even if we had a hour later to start school students wouldn't be as tired as they are now.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sleep deprivation is a common struggle many adolescents confront daily in their lives. It is a chronic condition with severe negative consequences to the developing teenage body and its effects may be even more dire when combined with the stress of heavy schoolwork along with extracurricular activities. Professional doctors advise and recommend growing teenagers to sleep eight hours or more, however this proves to be rather very difficult with the interference of the standard school schedule starting early in the morning. Starting school at a later time may highly reduce the negative effects of sleep deprivation and possibly improve the conditions of students.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over 80,000 people in America fall asleep while driving every day, and According to several studies over 50% of those people are teenage drivers. One can easily see while using social media that teens are exhausted from school hours and school work across the nation. School hours are so demanding mixed with sports and academic related activities, this puts a lot of stress on high schoolers all over the country. The overbearing need to receive good grades can lead most teenagers to become gradually more stressed, and eventually even cheat. The main issue I am trying to address here is that school hours are all too demanding for teenagers in this day and age therefore school hours should be pushed back a minimum of one hour if not more.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One reason I think this is that kids go to bed late staying up doing homework or getting back from school events. Kids in our school district are so involved with extra circular activities, which I think is a good thing. We want our kids to be involved, but we also want them to be successful with their school work. My daughter Mariah told me the other night after her far away basketball game…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A common phrase among young adults in secondary education is that there are three parts to high school life: social life, grades, and sleep. Pick two. Clifton Parker, on a study by education scholar Denise Pope, states “spending too much time on homework mean[s] students [are] ‘not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,’” Students [are] more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.” To achieve grades that fulfill collegiate ambitions, students must spend all of the time they may spend with family or friends on the homework that earns them points. Teachers often assume that a student’s overall productivity is defined by the amount of work completed in a night. Many end up assigning at least an hour of homework to assure themselves that the kids are learning. Real life productivity is defined by advancement and development of character or leadership. Through that lens, completing busywork is not productive. Once students reach the real world, they are underprepared and underdeveloped to face day to day challenges. In an interview, Christine Gross-Loh quotes Krista Kuru, Finnish Education Chief, describing the reasoning against this approach. She states “Academics isn't all kids need. Kids need so much more. School should be where we teach the meaning of life; where kids learn they are needed; where they can learn community skills.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays