School day should start later

Responding to a “New Start Time For A New Year”, I think that a push for a new schedule with a later time is beneficial. School is meant for learning and socializing. However starting school too early can detrimentally affect those things as well as one’s health. For example, less sleeping time can cause insomnia and illnesses.

The culprit is a lack of sleep. Many even feel ill, as senior Sean Watkins says: “Waking up at six for school is like food poisoning”.

An early Algonquin start time is the problem. The start times of  other kids in elementary and middle schools cause a dilemma for this situation. A solution for proper sleep is to let the elementary school kids start school early and high schoolers later. According to Sara Tobin, intern for the Park Record in Park City, UT, “I have four kids and many friends with children, and all of our elementary kids would get up at the crack of dawn and be happy and ready to start their day. That’s in contrast with teenagers who prefer to sleep in and start their day later. It seems like a switch would make sense for both groups of kids”(April 8, 2015). The younger kids will have no problem getting up early.

Overall, if possible, start school late for high schoolers. Many are supporting a reschedule, so why not change the time that school begins?

Nate Chen

senior