Are Later School Start Times Practical at Milton Academy?

By NIKHIL PANDE ‘21

Teenagers need more sleep. In the past few years, this idea, though consistently repeated by both teenagers and adults, has sparked major debate within governments and school boards. Indeed, scientists believe that the circadian rhythm of teenagers requires not just that teens need to sleep more than adults do, but also that teens need a shift in wake time.

Most schools across America have examined the idea of later start times, with supporters quoting “better focus” and “more productivity” for teenagers. However, Milton’s intense academic schedule, as well as hours of sports practice or rehearsal after school, creates problems with this idea of later start times. All aspects of a Milton student’s school day are vital for many different reasons, so eliminating or shortening classes, sports, or activities is not an option. Another compelling solution to the issue of teen sleep is to alter the time frame of these commitments, shifting school’s starting to a later time during the day. However, the timeframe of these commitments is usually ironclad for teachers and coaches as well as students, so later school-day start times are impractical in the near future for Milton Academy.

On most days at Milton Academy, class deans require students to check in by 8:00 AM. Occasionally, the deans cancel assembly and hold a “rolling check-in” where students are allowed to check in at 8:15, and therefore get a few more minutes of sleep. The normal, 8:00 AM start time for schools across the country was enacted to support the 9 to 5 working day for corporations and businesses; it’s most convenient for parents to drop their kids off at 8:00 to arrive at work by 9:00. But according to US News, teenagers need about 2 more hours of sleep than adults do. With this information, the start times seem backwards; shouldn’t work start at 8:00 and school at 9:00? Well, as practical as that change sounds in regards to the amount of sleep people need, the current order of start times is necessary, as some teenagers cannot get to school by themselves. As separate as school life is from corporate life, the daily schedule of a school is still fully dependent upon the schedule of corporations.

A Milton Student’s schedule is fairly simple: 8 class periods, including up to seven classes and one lunch period; an activities period from 3:00 to 3:30; sports practice or rehearsal at varying times in the afternoon or early evening. Postponing school start times, even by thirty minutes, will cause major alterations in the schedules of teachers, coaches, and students. For example, many outdoor fall sports practices end from 5:45 to 6:00—around the time when the sun begins to set. Sunset only gets earlier as the season progresses. If these practices were expected to end thirty or more minutes later, at 6:15 or 6:30, the absence of light would become an issue; coaches would be forced to end practices short of their regulated time frame because the sun would set. Sit-down dinner would be pushed back thirty minutes or more, causing a small rush from dinner to study hall. If study hall were pushed back to a later time, students wouldn’t start their homework until later, thus encroaching on their sleep time and negating the benefits of more sleep in the morning. The day students’ arrivals at home would also be delayed an extra half hour or more. Later school start times would alter end-of-day plans and only produce more chaos for students and families.

Although most teenagers would benefit from extra sleep time in the morning, the overflow of daily issues make this strategy impractical for Milton Academy in the near future. The 8:00 AM start time was enacted for the convenience of the corporate workday, and an amendment of that time would create major problems for almost everyone. Even though we probably won’t see school start later than 8:15 for the rest of our Milton careers, we could still try our best to get to sleep just a little bit earlier, giving ourselves more time to sleep and our parents less trouble.