Schools are Starting Later

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom signed legislation stating that all middle schools will now start no earlier than 8:00 AM. Also all High schools start no earlier than 8:30 AM. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, “Teenagers aged 13-18 should sleep about 8-10 hours per 24 hours.” The state of California now realized that because of the lack of sleep teens are now getting due to homework, school, and stress that teens are not working their best in their school and productivity. Because students are still going to school five days a week and start at an early time, most kids’ brains are not fully ready to function or retain knowledge that early in the day. Therefore, the school will be much more beneficial for kids when it is starting at this time.
This new mandate is expected to start by Fall 2022. According to ‘TheGrowlingWolverine.org’, “School days would end at around 3 p.m. in order to meet the legal obligations for how long a school day must be.” So, even though there is an extra hour to sleep in, the full length of school does not change.
Two 7th graders shared their opinion on the topic, Olive Tellegen states, “I believe starting school later would cause me to learn better because I have more energy and time. Starting school later would allow me to wake

up later and get more sleep. In the early morning, I feel tired and not fully ready to learn. However, a couple of extra hours of sleep would make it easier to get up in the morning and focus during class time. I would also have more time to finish homework in the morning. Many students (including myself) have after-school sports and hobbies that may not end until late hours. If school started at a later time, other students and I could catch up on sleep at night and get homework and studying done in the morning after a full night of sleep then at night after a long day. I may even obtain and remember concepts and information better if I start work with a clean, rested mindset than a tired, overworked one.” Seventh Emma Ajalat stated, “ I think starting school later in the day is better because kids will be more awake and more ready to learn. I also think it would be better because it affects their mood and they will focus more since they are more awake”                                                                                                            In conclusion, school starting later will be great for students who struggle with stress and sleep deprivation. Rio Norte will benefit from this for our education.