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i want argues essayWrite an essay about Argument essay Why Schools Should Start Later and Teens Should Sleep More and Delaying School Start Times Is Reckless Social Engineering (800-1000) words 3 body paragraph every body paragraph its 3 quotes Introduction Thesis 3 body paragraph argues paragraph 1 : argument 2 quotesparagraph 2: 2 quotes paragraph 3: argues 2 qoutesConclusionWhy Schools Should Start Later and Teens Should Sleep MoreBy Brittney McNamara Delaying School Start Times Is Reckless Social EngineeringBy Doug Mantz school_start_time_1_3__1_.docx Unformatted Attachment Preview Why Schools Should Start Later and Teens Should Sleep More By Brittney McNamara When I was in high school, it took a lot to get me out of bed and into class on time. Countless days, Id sleep through my alarm, prompting my mom to scream at me from down the hall or my dad to yank the covers off me in a last-ditch attempt to get me to school before the bell. But what my parents seemed to think was laziness was at odds with my overall personality—I got good grades, was part of countless clubs, and played sports. If you didnt know about the daily drama that was getting out of bed, you might guess that I woke up early each morning excited to get to school. I know Im not the only one who chronically hit snooze in my teen years, or the only one who was called lazy because of it. But, fellow sleepers, it turns out teen exhaustion isnt our fault. According to science, our schools might be to blame. Researchers have long recommended that high schools push back start times to be later in the morning, departing from the average 8 A.M. call time for class (https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_201381_s1n.asp). While the benefits of making school start later could be many for teens—including better performance in school, fewer reports of depression, and more—Adam Conover of truTVs Adam Ruins Everything noted in a recent episode that the impact could also literally save lives (https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/backgrounder-later-school-starttimes). He knows this because in a recent episode of the show, he ruined sleep (https://www.trutv.com/full-episodes/adam-ruins-everything/2178155/index.html). Basically, what researchers found is our circadian rhythms … change as we age. Teens need a little more sleep than adults, nine hours or so, and they also are hardwired to go to sleep later and to wake up later in the morning, Adam told Teen Vogue. Because teens are biologically driven to go to sleep and wake up later, Adam said most teens are sleep deprived likely because they have to wake up early for school. This, he said, can have deadly consequences. The result [of sleep deprivation] is really bad for the teens because it lowers their performance in school, but also drowsy driving is a serious problem. According to the National Sleep Foundation, Adam is spot on (https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/teens-and-sleep). Teenagers need about eight to 10 hours of sleep each night, but few get it. One study found that only 15\% of teens reported getting 8 1/2 hours of rest on a school night. Not getting enough sleep can lead to unhealthy eating, depression, other health problems, and can result in drowsy driving, which is what Adam was talking about. The Sleep Foundation notes that drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 crashes every year, and can be just as bad as driving drunk. The Sleep Foundation has a number of recommendations to help young people avoid sleep deprivation, including starting school later. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also cited early school start times as a reason teens dont get enough sleep (https://www.cdc.gov/features/school-starttimes/index.html), and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 2014 that schools across the country push back start times until 8:30 A.M. at the earliest (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/3/642). So, if making school start later could potentially lead to better test scores, healthier teens, and fewer drowsy driving accidents, why hasnt it been done? Well, there may be a few reasons. The stereotype that teens are lazy could be one of them. The weird thing is that parents tend to treat it as kids are just lazy, Adam said. My mom used to spray me with a water bottle. Even today, my mom, when I go visit her, when I wake up at 8 A.M. now shes like, Ooooh. Its a natural change of life. Despite that, we organize our society in a way that ignores that truth about that. Its hurting the children our society wants to protect. Many schools across the country have looked into pushing back school start times but fell short of actually making the change. Some schools have cited money problems, as many school districts stagger school start times to allow them to use one fleet of buses to carry students at various grade levels, which saves money. Other districts share buses, meaning the start time change would impact more than just one set of students. For other districts, sports leagues are a barrier to shifting start times—since many games in regional high school sports leagues operate on an early start, and therefore earlier release, timeline, some have argued that starting later would cause scheduling issues if not all schools in the regional league were on board. And while some adults call teens the lazy ones, Adam suggested another reason school start times havent been pushed back is that the stereotype might be the other way around. I think its a matter of looking at the arguments against it and debunking them one by one, he said. The first thing youre going to hear is, When are we going to have football? Get someone on the football team to be like, I dont know man, two hours later? The only arguments against it are that it takes effort to change the status quo. In addition to the research saying letting young people sleep later could be good for them, theres evidence that it actually improves things across the board. According to a report published by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Hingham Public Schools moved their start times from 7:20 A.M. to 8 A.M. in 2003 and have seen improvements in both academic performance and attendance since (https://www.masc.org/images/events/2018/summer-institute/MASC_SummerInstitute_2018_School-Start-Times.pdf). Nauset Regional High School in Massachusetts similarly moved its start time, opening at 8:35 A.M. instead of 7:25 A.M., and saw instantaneous results, according to the report, including fewer failing grades and suspensions. One year after Evergreen School District in Washington state shifted school start times, officials said that it was too early to cite hard data, but that students seemed happier. Of course, not all school districts that push back school start times are thrilled with the change, and some have even reversed the decision to start school later. But Adam pointed out that theres one thing thats hard to argue with: If making school start later might save lives lost in drowsy driving accidents, why wouldnt everyone be on board? This is a personal issue to me, he said. Students are under so much pressure to achieve academically, achieve in athletics. You have students who are at a school all day and on a sports team. Time is filled up 12 to 16 hours a day and [theyre] getting five hours of sleep. Thats a recipe for accidents. Its a matter of saving kids lives. If you want your school to start later in the morning, Adam suggested some simple advocacy—go in front of the school board and make your case. Adam suggested having a plan for how exactly your school could make this change and bringing data to the table. Every school is under pressure to show it has good test scores, he said. If you can show those results from [a place thats had success], say, Look at the difference here. Who will argue with saving kids lives and improving test scores? Delaying School Start Times Is Reckless Social Engineering By Doug Mantz The following is the text of a letter to the Board of Education, drafted by Doug Mantz, Meghan and Angelo Culmo, Liz Santoro, Tim and Marie McNamara, Sharon Murray, Gretchen and Pete Ganey, and signed by more than 150 other parents, students, and town residents, voicing their opposition to the proposal being considered by the West Hartford Board of Education to change school start times. To the Board of Education members, I am writing to strongly oppose the proposal to change school start times. Hearing arguments in support of this change at the town hall Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, only served as convincing arguments to the contrary. I am not a physician, a psychiatrist, nor a sleep specialist, and must rely upon the research of experts in the field. However, to the untrained eye, it is quite clear that teenagers would generally benefit from more sleep. Unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day and changing the start time of school does not add 45 minutes to the day. The delayed opening may help some children but may result in a significant number of unintended consequences. Further, I am generally opposed to initiating institutional changes to correct perceived problems that may best be corrected through individual attention and personal responsibility. Every teenager lives within a different set of circumstances. Some work after school, some require extra tutoring, some are involved with athletics, choir, volunteer work, and the list goes on. One concern that we as parents can probably all agree upon is that our childrens lives are far busier, more scheduled, and structured today than in previous generations. The second concern that we should all share is our teenagers attachment to and use of technology. I would argue that busy schedules and the overuse of phones, tablets, computers, video games and television have as much, if not more, negative impact on our teenagers sleep schedules than the time at which school begins. We, as parents, have influence over these important factors, should we choose to exercise it. The basis of the of the argument to delay school opening, as far as I can tell, is that teenagers brains magically release melatonin in unison at 11 P.M. That may very well be true but if that were the case, daylight savings would correct the matter and melatonin would be released at 10 P.M. I think that the rational mind would tell us that the 11 P.M. magic hour is the result of sleep/wake schedules, the amount of time each child is involved in activities during the day, and stimuli leading up to a natural bedtime. Studies show that teenagers and adults have a more difficult time sleeping within four hours of vigorous exercise. As an example: If basketball practice ends at 7 P.M., a teenager will not be able to sleep until 11 P.M. Push basketball practice back 45 minutes and bedtime becomes 11:45 P.M. Studies also show that more than 90 percent of teenagers use some form of digital technology in the hour before bedtime. Exposure to light from digital devices can delay the release of melatonin and push back sleep. Research indicates that more highly interactive forms of technology—video games, cell phones, and tablets tend to interfere with sleep and worse yet, lead to un-refreshing sleep. Without parental guidance helping our children maintain a manageable schedule and monitoring the use of their phones, my fear is that bedtime will merely be pushed back 45 minutes to coincide with their new waking time required to get to school. In my view, changing the school start time is shortsighted and is nothing more than treating the symptom and ignoring the cause. If this time change was to be enacted, without a change in our childrens behavior, I do not believe that it would result in any meaningful increase in average sleep time. I do believe that this change will add costs, disrupt current schedules, and result in loss of certain after school activities. Please see the following questions that must be answered/considered before this proposal should be considered. Questions: FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS To the town: What is the actual cost for bus schedule changes? Ive seen as little as $94k and up to $500k. Neither is affordable. Are teachers contracts affected by changing the school start times? Will that result in greater cost to tax payers? Teachers: How many teachers will incur additional day care expenses for their own children? Paraprofessionals: Many hold a second job. How many can afford to lose an extra hour of work? Families: How many families will be negatively impacted by before and after school day care expenses and modified work schedules? Many parents have their work schedules tied to school hours. Working students: How many students and businesses will be impacted losing an hour of work each day? HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS What is the cost of a new bus schedule? How much school will kids miss in the afternoon? Newtown and Greenwich report a significant increase in early dismissal to play other schools with a traditional dismissal time. This is disruptive to class and most importantly, our students education. Currently, there are 23 early dismissals for student-athletes, this number is projected to be 260 with the proposed hours. What about coaches now holding practices in the morning, before school? Conard/Hall swim programs: What will happen to these if Cornerstone is not available? That pool was built for both high schools. What if, due to financial constraints, the pool takes in paying customers (as they are with Avon) and we are not able to utilize the pool? Golf programs: What will happen with the change in time? Rockledge wont accommodate a later starting time. OTHER NON-SCHOOL RELATED/COMMUNITY RELATED ITEMS WORTH CONSIDERING Youth sports leagues will likely be impacted and potentially cut due to the time change and the conflict with daylight savings. We can ill-afford losing opportunities for our kids to get exercise and play in a team sport setting prior to getting to high school. All after school activities will be negatively impacted including, but not limited to, religious education of all denominations, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, etc. I believe that everybody on both sides of this argument truly has the best interest of our children in mind. In reaching the desired result, there are two ways to approach any issue: 1. Fix it yourself 2. Ask somebody else to fix it for you. I fear that those promoting this change are the same parents who are inclined to question their childrens teachers when their child experiences some failure. I would never ignore science or the opinions of experts, but the proponents of this change are ignoring logic. My opinion is that too many people today look to utilize simple, widespread policies to correct a concern when the remedy is often within their own personal control. The Board of Education, the town, teachers, and coaches are all here to support our efforts in raising and educating our children, for which I am grateful, but it is our ultimate responsibility as parents to help our children navigate their formative years. Getting eight hours of sleep is on the parents and the student, not the Board of Education. In summary, regardless of the starting time of school (7:30 A.M. or 8:15 A.M.), parents and students still have to find a way to pack in their daily responsibilities, monitor and limit the use of technology, and ensure that they get their needed rest. Starting school 45 minutes later is just the type of group-think that I fear is costing our town wasted time and money. Nobody wins when governing to the few at the cost of the majority. ... Purchase answer to see full attachment