Sleep. A necessity, but for many students, a luxury. Generally 8-10 hours of sleep is recommended nightly, but some students fail to get enough sleep and struggle to stay awake in class.
Palo Alto Unified School District is considering shifting the school schedule 15 minutes earlier to start at 8:45 a.m., as requested by the Palo Alto Educators Association. The new schedule would still adhere to California state law, which requires that public high schools start at 8:30 a.m. at the earliest.
The question is, should they? We think this is a mistake.
Studies from the American Psychological Association have shown that school starting even half an hour later leads to positive moods, developmental success and greater health.
Losing 15 minutes of sleep does not feel like much, but for students operating without much sleep, the minutes add up.
Sophomore Derek Chen said that the lack of sleep will hurt students.
“Students want a 9 a.m. start time because with the competitive nature of Paly, at some point everyone is going to be sleep-deprived,” Chen said. “No one wants to get up early.”
Besides sleep, earlier start times will make it harder for athletes who have morning practice.
Junior Samanvika Senthil-Kumar said that sports will be pressured if the start time is moved by 15 minutes.
“There’s a lot of sports that do practice in the morning,” Senthil-Kumar said. “They might also feel tension to hurry up.”
Interestingly, the same studies have shown that teenagers don’t change their bedtime based upon when they have to wake up.
Chen said that everyone would still go to sleep at the same time.
“This isn’t going to make anyone sleep 15 minutes earlier,” Chen said. “It’s only going to make people get up 15 minutes earlier.”
We recognize that earlier start times have many benefits. Currently, students may have to choose between school and sports, extracurriculars or jobs.
According to sophomore Joshua Joo, shifting the bell schedule 15 minutes earlier will give him more time after school to play golf.
“For me, it [earlier end time] is a better chance for me to do more of my extracurriculars, like my sport or like my nonprofit work,” Joo said.
Another benefit we recognize is that teachers arrive at school early to avoid morning traffic, and an earlier start would save their time.
According to history teacher Stephen Foug, earlier start times result in shorter commutes for teachers.
“The traffic is worse [and] getting to Paly is a nightmare,” Foug said. “I live really close, but it [the start time] would [shorten the commute].”
But in the end, the goal of schools is to support the students. Every 15 minutes of sleep counts to making students healthier, happier and more productive. Ultimately, we hope that the district reconsiders its newly proposed start time.
