Irondale

Research Paper

In high schools, research has shown clearly that later high school start times would result in less sleep deprivation, better learning, and fewer behavioral problems (Greene). Irondale has had a lot of problems that that are caused by the school starting time. Some of the problems are; transportation to and from school and school events can be dangerous to teens, early school times can cause sleep deprivation which, in turn, causes students to be irritable and disrespectful, and grades can lower from lack of sleep and sleep deprivation. There are many important problems in Irondale today, but the most important problem is the school's starting time being too early.

The Irondale start time is a big problem for teens because it can be dangerous to drive when tired behind the wheel. According to Denise Witmer, "Teens have a high risk of having car accidents from the lack of sleep behind the wheel." This quote is important because it shows that it really is dangerous to be driving in the morning when you are still half asleep. Also according to Denise Witmer, "Many high school students know of someone, often a high-achieving kid, who on the drive back from a sporting event or dance, simply fall asleep at the wheel." This is a very scary thought; the driver could be in a horrible head to head collision or even worse. Another fact shown by Witmer shows that, "Up to 20% of car accidents in teens can be linked to some sort of sleep related problem". This is an important fact because it shows that driving can be very dangerous for teens and even other people on the roads.

Irondale's early start time is a problem because it can cause sleep deprivation in students which is linked to irritability and students showing a lack of respect (High School Deprives). It has been seen that sleep deprivation can be the main cause behind extreme moodiness (Witmer). This can be a very bad thing because extreme moodiness could include increased aggravation which could lead to more fights in the school and more disrespectful acts on property. Adding on to the above fact, according to Witmer, "The average teen needs 9.5 hours of sleep per night but studies show that teens generally sleep for 7.4 hours per night". This is important because this shows that teens aren't getting enough sleep and are misbehaving because of it. Another fact according to Greene shows, "Overall student attendance increases and tardiness decreases in later starting schools". This is important because overall student attendance is very important for the moral of the school and it might even help students to respect the school more.

Another reason why Irondale's school starting time is too early is that student's grades can lower from sleep deprivation (High School Deprive). According to Denise Witmer, "Sleep deprivation can be the cause behind poor performance in students." This is a very important topic because this is evidence that shows students grades can be affected by the amount of sleep they get. Also by Denise Witmer, "Sleep deprivation can cause many affects on the body including difficulty remembering and have a harder time concentrating in school." This shows that students, if sleep deprived, could have harder time learning in school and could have a harder time taking tests which would affect the student's grade greatly. According to an online source, "Current high school start times deprive adolescents of sleep and force students to perform academically in the early morning, a time of day when they are at their worst,"(High School Deprives). This is very startling information because this also shows that early start times hinder a students ability to learn and remember what he/she has learned during the morning hours of school.

One of the contributing factors to the school starting time is school funding. According to School Board, "fee-for-services on busing was put into place because of budget shortfall (School Talk)." This is an important factor because its shows that the schools aren't paid enough to have busing run at later times so high school students have to wake up early for the buses. Reported in School Talk, an on-line school source, "the cost for busing would almost triple from the 4.6million dollar budget already set if the times were to change". This is a very surprising statistic because it shows that the school district doesn't have enough money to run buses for every student that needs one at one time. According to another article about a School Board meeting states, "The School Board has noted that the least expensive option for the school starting time is in place." This shows that the School Board is trying to save money for other budgets and don't believe that the school starting time being too early is a big problem.

Another contributing factor is the Administration schedule. "The School