The school day now begins at 8:10 a.m., a whole 50 minutes later than previous years. Yes, this new start time helps, but it could be a lot better.
It has been obvious for years that school bells ringing at 7:20 a.m. were a problem. Students could barely keep their eyes open in the morning. Last year, some students would leave to drive to school as early as 6:00 a.m. It was not healthy both mentally and physically.
For example, a 2010 study at Stanford University by Judith A. Owens, Katherine Belon, and Patricia Moss reports that “the average adolescent has difficulty falling asleep before 11 p.m., and the ideal wake time is around 8 a.m.”
Ever since the school board proposed changing the start time of Fairfax County, I was an avid supporter of switching to a 9:15 a.m. start time. However, one conflict of moving school later was also moving after school activities like sports, as teams had to adjust practice times due to every school in the county starting later. Since the school board was going to decide on a later time that would already interfere with extracurriculars regardless, they might as well have given students more sleep time they so desperately need.
While 8:10 a.m. seems like a change for the better, it hasn’t dramatically contributed to the health of students. Even now, schools are not meeting the American Academy of Pediatrics guideline to not start school before 8:30 a.m.
Student commute time is now during the center of rush hour. This means that students like myself, who live far away from Marshall, must plan for at least an hour of traffic on the way there. Even students who live much closer to school still get caught up in the frustrating traffic of 495 and Route 7.
As a freshman who recently transitioned from middle school, I am leaving my house at the same time I left last year, 7:00 a.m., meaning traffic takes up the hour or more of sleep I was promised by this new start time. Having an older brother has shown me that while he has gone from leaving at 6:15 a.m to 7:00 a.m., getting to sleep for 45 more minutes still isn’t enough to pass as healthy. Mornings are still a struggle to get out of bed and breakfast is out of the question with such little time to spare. He comes home on Friday afternoons and falls asleep at 6 p.m., sleeping through to Saturday.
A 2014 study led by Kyla L. Wahlstrom at the University of Minnesota found that “the recommended amount of sleep for teens ranges from 9 to 9.5 hours of sleep at night… on average, the teens who had high school start times of 8:35 a.m. or earlier averaged about 7.8 hours of sleep.”
For such a successful school district, I would think the school board would prioritize the health of their students. Sadly, they compromised, falling short of the optimal amount of sleep and making it equally inconvenient for everyone.