Studies have shown the negative side effects of students who are forced to wake up early to attend school. Whether it be academic performance or an increased risk of health problems, it is pretty clear that times set for classes to start are not considerate of students’ needs. With New Jersey’s average start Lime at eight o’clock in the morning, it is no wonder why we hear so many student complaints. Waking up at early time is not the only cause for these complaints; we also need to consider: homework load, extracurricular activities and sports, along with maintaining a social life. Balancing all these variables is hard enough as it is, let alone with having to wake up early and worrying whether or not you will make it to school on time, Homework load is a huge factor in any student’s life. Some students spend hours upon hours doing homework, preparing for a test, or making up missed work.
When you miss a day of school, you have twice the work load to carry, which not only causes stress to the student for having to make up two days‘ worth of work, but also causes stress to make it to school, even if you have a legitimate reason. Personally, I have known students who have spent hours on work for one class, and after that, they still have more to go. How does one expect a student to keep up with their work, and the next day be at school at seven thirty, sharp? It is such an unrealistic expectation, and yet, it is still set there and has been for years. It is no wonder why student grade point averages are decreasing, More and more students are having trouble keeping up with their work, and on top of that, keeping up with their social life. You have heard it from psychologists, doctors, and parents; it is important to have friends, be well socialized, and be involved in your school and/or community.
But how is that to be expected of students when they do not have time to leave their house, considering how much homework they have and how little time they have to do it? Yet, we still expect students to get to school on time, give their undivided attention, and maintain a C average (or higher) GPA, when the night before, they finally got to sleep at midnight, and then had to wake up six hours later to get ready for school. These days, most high schools consider sports to be a pretty important part in their school’s reputation. So much is expected of athletes: showing up to practice on time, attending all of the games, practicing daily to maintain skills, all while keeping up with their school work and having to meet a certain GPA to be eligible to stay on the team Practices go on for hours, away games are even longer, but still, players are expected to hand in homework the next day, as well as be fully prepared for any upcoming tests, all while waking up in the early hours of the morning in order to get to school on time.
The amount of stress all of these factors put on a student is outrageous, but yet, change has not happened, and we are still waiting for a sign that it wills Remember in elementary school, when everything was easy and you didn’t have to work about balancing anything? I remember simpler days, where I didn’t have to be at school until nine o’ clock, where everyone in the classroom was your friend, and you were not expected to stay up for hours to complete homework or study for a test. If middle and high schools made the simple change of starting a little bit later, it would make a world of difference for most, if not all, students, Let this be a wakeup call to New Jersey middle and high schools; change needs to happen, and it needs to start now
