Pushing back morning bell inhibits student productivity 

By Reece M. Krantz
THE ROUNDUP 

The controversy over the length of school days is a never ending tug of war that neither science nor logic can comprehend.

Some people say that pushing back the time school starts will reduce sleep deprivation, a way to reduce the stress and complexity of school life.

I disagree with this; getting up early prepares students for an adult life and a full time job.

These years are formative in teaching good habits and helping students acquire skills that will benefit them later in life.

I can see the argument for the other side, waking up early is not fun or energizing. But if you want to change your morning attitude, start at night. Go to bed earlier rather than staying up all night on your social media.

The more you sleep, the more awake you will be in the morning and more motivated you will be through out the day.

A bright and early start to a school day helps teach students how to make good use of their day and how to be alert and responsive for the rest of the day.

Boosts in confidence is vital to success in the long term. Confidence can be compared to motivation and by starting earlier, students can feel more capable in their own abilities and take more opportunities.

They will be more active throughout the rest of the day and learn important skills about time management as an adult.

There are fewer distractions in the early morning, less noise, and the early riser begins his day in a better state-of-mind.

A clear state-of-mind is important. It increases mental activity and is conducive to a productive day. The less on your mind, the more focused you are as a whole.

Focus will lead to success in the future and help with lengthy academic projects.

An earlier school hour means more time to work on academic projects later in the day, as there is no hurry to get things done — a problem a late-riser might face would be procrastination.

Procrastination is an important component in this discussion. On a personal level I know I will wait until the morning on Wednesdays–our late start days–to finish homework, which I realize is a bad habit but it is too tempting not to break.

Procrastination leads to doing poorly in school almost objectively: Reliance on bad habits will not help you in the future when you are and adult in the real world.

Waiting for the last second in the real world could result in you losing your job and potentially your career, therefore early starts are an important dose of reality in a wonderland of nonchalance, meaningfully impacts of responsibility are highly suggested.

It is common knowledge that your body runs on an internal clock, a system which keeps you in check with the rise and setting of the sun.

Waking up early or later affects your internal clock. Getting your internal clock set to an early time will mean that all of your previously accustomed actions will be done earlier.

Homework will be done earlier, freeing up valuable time for recreation and family. This directly correlates with more time to spare in general.

Waking up earlier will allow you to have more free weekends as you will have done everything you need to do, earlier.

Waking up early is superior to waking up late. An early schedule it prepares you for the adult journey, while providing the valuable service of time management in your younger life.

Wake up and smell the success.

Later start times help students perform better, stay safer

By Riley Morrison ’16
THE ROUNDUP 

In the interest of student health, safety and education, school start times should be pushed back by 30 minutes to an hour.

Brophy’s late start on Wednesday was a good first step, but all five school days should be pushed back to this time.

Numerous studies support the claims that later start times help teens stay healthy.

“A study from 2007-2008 found ‘significantly’ higher teen crash rates in Virginia Beach, Va., than in a similar district in nearby Chesapeake where classes started 75 to 80 minutes later,” wrote Beth J. Harpaz of The Huffington Post.  “Another study found crash rates for teen drivers dropped 16.5 percent in a Kentucky district after high school openings went from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.”

Biologically, teenagers aren’t built to be waking up as early as most do.

“Research shows teens don’t get sleepy until around 10:45 p.m., when their bodies begin to secrete melatonin, but once they fall asleep, they stay asleep for about nine hours and 15 minutes, waking at around 8 a.m,” Amy Wolfson, a sleep expert and psychology professor at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., told The Huffington Post

So if that’s when we should really be waking up, why are we in class when, biologically, we should be sleeping?  It simply doesn’t make sense.

Many of the problems that people usually associate with later school start times such as missed athletic events, less time in the afternoon for homework and more difficulty picking up younger siblings would solve themselves.

Most athletic events happen much later after school anyway and more sleep will lead to more productivity at night.  Although students are getting home later, they will feel better and be more motivated to start their homework earlier.

The younger sibling issue is certainly possible, but is outweighed by the gains students would receive if start time was pushed back.

All in all, it doesn’t make sense to start as early as we do when we would be safer and more productive with later start times.

Let us hit snooze a few more times.  We’ll be better because of it.