Late Start for Sleepy Students

Amy, I don't think it's so much a parenting issue as it is a lack of time issue in the evenings. I work from home and pick up my friend's 14 year old after her school day is over. Originally, she was going to be my mother's helper after she finished her homework, but her teachers have been piling it on this year. She's at my house for 3 hours each day during the week and some days that's just not enough time to finish her homework.

I live in Fairfax - traffic here is horrid (it's faster for my husband to bike 10 miles each way than to drive). By the time you leave the office, swing by after/daycare, and get home, it's probably after 6pm. Throw in time for dinner, chores, homework, and it's going to be close to 9-10. Kids also need some time to unwind and relax so they don't burn out on school and it's not like they get much of a recess to do that anymore.

I think moving the start time back one hour for the jr/sr high kids would be a good move. They can't control their parents' work schedules, the amount of homework their teachers assign, or the amount of sleep they need during puberty. I'm kind of surprised they're considering 9:40am for elementary kids. It's not like they come home with hours of homework to do and couldn't reasonably be in bed by 9pm. It'd probably make kindergarten teachers miserable, since we have half day kindergartens.

SHort- I work for sbux, I see how many people are truely awake from the hours of 4am - 12pm and I have yet to find anyone who looks remotely alert before 9am. So of the parents who oppose starting the kids off an hour later why not take a look at yourself and think (if i was able to sleep in an hour longer would I be more productive and awake at work) If you said no to that more power to you but the rest of the world isn't nearly as awake as me at 4am :D



I wanna be as nice as possible so I rewrote this :).

Being 23 I was in high school not so far back, I was into sports but never joined the school team or any big team for that matter. My days started at 6 A.M like most adults, I put in a full 8 hours of class taught by what some would call half ass teachers (I can count the number of teachers on both hands that have changed my life in huge ways.) Then I would walk my butt home and do my homework/chores.

By the time I was done with my homework, chores, dinner it was already time to hop in the shower and get ready for bed.

WHERE is the time to relax without staying up a little late?

For all the parents who have posted her against moving school later and said we need to fix the system and all that shit its bull. We are talking about one main subject and thats the damn time we start our kids going to school.

Let the kids have a break and wake up an hour later? I work for a coffee shop for crying out loud I don't know anyone other than myself who even has a smile on their face before 7am... NOW i'd really like to see the masses tell me im wrong, but if you can't put a smile on yourself that early and think straight why the hell would you think that your kids can?

Here is what would happen, and I'm a high school teacher so I'm pretty knowledgeable about this. And I'm only 31, so its not like I don't remember being in school.

If you let the kids come into school at 10, they will sleep through their alarms, and with no parent in the house to wake them, they'll skip school. So, in skipping school, they'll get drunk, get high, get pregnant, or just generally mess around.

And it will be a never ending cycle. They will stay up later and later, adn the whining will continue.

People need to learn to get to places on time, and manage their time better. Get up, get your butt to school, and if you're tired, get of myspace or your cell phone, and go to sleep. This is a parenting issue. If you aren't willing to parent your children, then don't have them.

This is a non-issue. Put the kids to bed earlier. Now can we deal with the myriad other REAL problems plaguing schools?

Even if your kids don't do a lot of extracurriculars, if you're in a homework-heavy district like ours, it can be tough getting to bed on time. My 6th grader does no extras except for Saturday, almost no screen time except for wkends, and still it's a constant struggle to shoehorn in some time for play, exercise....let alone getting 5 of us to the dinner table at roughly the same time...

This is a tricky one. Tons of kids & teens are chronically under-sleeping, which affects their learning. OTOH, parents who work full-time away from home usually need to be at work by 9 (or before) and need some time w/their kids in the p.m. Hard to come up with a schedule that will meet everyone's needs. My pie-in-the-sky fantasy would be a 9-9:30ish start for all ages, caps on homework volume, and flexible schedules for all parents so they can make this work!

Good topic; thanks.

Mary
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As a high school student myself I'm kind of insulted by your comment. Teaching 'just the basics' is complete total bulls***. I am quite capable of doing the basics, but I like the extra stuff. There are classes in areas now for culinary, interior design, fashion design, computer tech. Not everyone wants a 9-5 desk job that is comepletely uncreative. Not to mention...gym class..now I'm personally not a fan of gym, but how do you think all of the personal trainers started learning they liked exercise? People get paid lots of money to do that. And no recess for younger grades ( elementary/middle)...? Are you out of your mind? Kids that age cannot sit still for 6 hours. They NEED to run around, in order to sit down in class and actually pay attention. Also, as far as your comment about "touchy-feely crap"... some people are not not visual or auditory learners. They need hands on experience in order to learn something, that does not make them stupid. I don't think you really thought about your response before writing it...and if you actually believe your idea will work, then you are deluding yourself.

Christine, if you had read my comment with an open mind instead of getting your hackles up at the first word, you would have understood that by "the basics", I meant (and let's go back and look at what I wrote)... "small classes, teaching the basics - math, English, writing, history (based on the Constitution), economics - gym class and recess to run off the 'stupids', even same-gender classes, and school uniforms, DISCIPLINE."

You see, I DID include gym class in there, and included recess as well, so kids can get the exercise and mental rest that they so desperately need. And not because one of them might want to be a personal trainer. That, frankly, doesn't matter when you're in grade school.

I think it's great that some schools can offer creative stuff like culinary arts, interior design, etc. I, myself, benefited from an excellent music program in high school, and went on to earn my degree in that field. However, there are more and more high school students who are learning how to cook, but can't spell, and don't know the difference between "too, to, and two". Those same students can tell you NOTHING about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (except that he owned slaves, and therefore is a cretin), or Abraham Lincoln, but they CAN tell you Britney Spears' bra size.

My point was that, rather than noodling with the superficial crap like school hours, or taking a day away from the week, the entire system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch. And rebuilt on what works. Learn the basics, and the other stuff will come. If you can read and do math, you can learn to cook or sew on your own. You don't need Emeril or Martha Stewart to teach you. Where do you think they learned?

Also, by "touchy-feely" crap, I did NOT mean (and I understand how you would miss this, as I did not spell it out. Those who frequent this board know my position on this.) hands-on learning, but instead all of the "feelings" stuff (there was actually a class that my neighbor's kid HAD to take, called "making good friendships"... THIS, in place of History or Science??) that's included in the curriculum to the exclusion of hard knowledge stuff, like "the basics".

Amen!

Actually, getting the kids ACTIVE in the morning will help them to function. science proves that exercize helps the brain to function better and releases endorphins making people overall happier and with less stress. this might actually ENCOURAGE a healthy lifestyle for kids.

and on a side note... if the kids wish to participate in the extracurricular activities they will be encouraged to get up by the anticipation of it.

So now we will have all the "extra" stuff for the high schoolers in the mornings. How will they get there and who will be there for them or watching them? Not all high schoolers have cars and the buses will have to get the younger kids to school so they can't depend on those. Maybe the parents can tell their bosses that they need to start later too so they can be with the kids in the AM.

This has PROBLEMS written all over it. You can't just "change" the way things are for a few kids who stay up to late and are tired. We all made it didn't we? School should come first kids and not the other way around. To many people would/could be involved. Teacher's, administrators, coaches, buss drivers, employers and what about the younger kids that have to be drug out of bed to go watch hockey at 6 AM? What about kids with after school jobs? If they can get up to play hockey, they should be able to get up and go to school. This started out by being the "poor little guys are tired and need more sleep" to now they can do this other stuff instead of sleeping!!

Has anybody ever heard that actions have consequences? Someone is tired in the mornings, they go to bed earlier at night. Isn't "teen-dom" for learning these "life" lessons?

This would change things for to many people and doesn't just involve the high school kids.

I have 3 children ages 14, 13, and 6. I agree that we should probably leave the elementary school time alone. My 6 year old is definitely better in the morning. By 1:00 he is grumpy, hungry etc. and it's harder to get him focused to do his homework he receives from morning kindergarten.

As for the older 2, they both participate in sports - basketball, football and track. By the time they get home from practice (it ends at 6:00), do their homework (they get tons - especially my oldest - in honors biology, math and french) eat, shower, take out the trash etc. there is no time for them to relax and recoup from a very long day. They are both up at 6:00 a.m. in order to eat breakfast, wash, dress and walk to the bus. Trust me, anyone who says "get them in bed earlier" either doesn't have kids who actually do participate in after school activities, their kids don't get homework or they don't have kids period. A later start would be greatly appreciated.