This upcoming school year, my classes start 10 minutes earlier than they normally do from 8:30 in the morning to 8:20 a.m. Now this doesn’t make much of a difference to me (I secretly like this change since I am a morning person), but it prompted me to think about how my less early-rising peers will have to adjust to accommodate such a change. You can read more about how to cope with earlier school start times.
Do the pros of starting school earlier outweigh the cons? The debate about ideal school start times continue to wage on especially, as the school year is right around the corner. Here are some pros and cons to starting class early.
Pros
- There is more time for extracurricular activities and homework thus, improving morale levels and grades.
- Transportation such as busing, sport teams, and daycare facilities won’t be affected and costs won’t go up.
- Kids might have to go to bed at a reasonable time, which would make parents happier.
Cons
- Students are less alert and awake because they are forced to wake up early therefore, attendance and performance may decrease.
- Bus times will have to change, teams may have to play later or even in the dark, and older teens cannot pick up younger siblings.
- Many teenagers despise the idea of waking up early so this can make them despise going to school even more.
Weirdly enough, this earlier start was implemented to avoid “so many lates” at our school. In turn, it may have the opposite effect. There could be even more lates. Time will tell. 
Herminia Chow 
Ah…this is a big debate. I don’t know about you, but here in my town (I’m in Massachusetts) the elementary schools start at 8:30, the middle schools start at 8, and the high school starts at 7:30. The younger the child is, the more likely they’re going to wake up earlier. There has always been a debate here that the times should be switched for elementary and high school. The middle school would stay the same.
But as you brought up, teenagers might not be able to pick up their younger siblings. The high school gets out at 1:51 (random, I know), the middle school gets out at 2:15 and the elementary school gets out at 2:35. So the high schoolers are able to pick up their siblings if they need to.
It’s weird how something that seems so simple can cause such a debate. Great post.
LikeLike
This really is a huge debate everywhere. There needs to be some kind of common or middle ground on when classes should start. Perhaps, in your town elementary, middle, and high schools could start and end at the same time? That way, the older kids could pick up their younger siblings if necessary.
If everyone started and ended school at about the same time, wouldn’t there would be less problems? Then again, kids in elementary might not wake up the same time as kids in high school.
Where I live actually, most schools (regardless if it’s elementary or high school) start at approximately the same time.
That is true. Something as simple as school start times has caused such a debate among students, teachers, and parents as well as administrators.
Thank you.
LikeLike
But at least there, they’re saying to start only ten minutes earlier. Here they wanted to start a half hour earlier. The elementary kids would start at 8, the middle schools would start at 7:30, and the high school would start at 7. So many people complained because they said 7 was too early.
Of course, I didn’t mind. I can’t say I was thrilled about it, but the earlier we start, the earlier we get out. That’s the way I looked at it. But it never happened, anyway.
LikeLike
I agree ten minutes isn’t that great of a difference but a half hour is. I can see how hard it would be for many students if high school had to start at 7 in the morning. Some may have to wake up at 5 if that did happen.
That is true. The earlier you get out, the more time you have for other after school activities, homework, etc. There are pros and cons to every decision, every choice.
LikeLike
Very true. Thank you, and great post. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you very much. 😀
LikeLike