POLL: Should School Start Later In Owings Mills-Reisterstown?
The House of Delegates will take up House Bill 1462, which would establish a task force on school start times, later this week.
Are early school start times preventing kids from getting enough sleep?
That's the question on a lot minds as the Maryland House of Delegates prepares to take up House Bill 1462 later this week. The bill, which seeks to establish a task force to study whether or not school should start later in the day, will be up for a hearing at 1 p.m. Mar. 15 in Annapolis.
Recently, a group that supports earlier school start times posted a blog on Patch asking for experts to testify before the legislature.
Discuss school start times with your neighbors on the Owings Mills-Reisterstown Patch Facebook page.
The Start School Later campaign in Maryland is part of a national initiative to move school start times—according to a petition posted on their website, Maryland high schools start shortly after 7 a.m. with bus runs beginning as early as 5:45 a.m.
The group believes that such early hours are preventing students from getting the sleep they need and impacting their ability to study effectively.
Do you think that school should start later in the day? Is 7 a.m. just too early or should school start even earlier? Is the current start time just right? Answer our poll below and tell us in the comments.
David Jacobson
4:08 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013
Go to bed earlier. Total waste of tax dollars.
Debbie Hanlon
5:06 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013
There is research to support that a later start to the school day for high school students makes them more productive. Unsure how this would affect transportation, may not be feasible.
Nancy R Carp
2:29 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
I agree. The elementary schools should open first for a couple of reasons. One is that parents need to go to work early and they wouldn't have to worry about getting someone to watch their kids. Two is that these kids are up early anyway. Research has shown that high schoolers need more rest and are up later in the evening - usually because they have homework, projects and work. I now live in Florida and the order of school openings are elementary, middle and then high school. This has proved to be successful. I am not sure how that would affect high school sports in Baltimore, especially in the winter.
DC
9:25 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Go to bed earlier? If a child has sports or other activities after school, they usually don't get home until after 5:00 or 6:00. Then there is dinner/family time. Then you have to factor in the average 3 HOURS OR MORE of homework for high schoolers....you're up to 11:00 already. Then they have to get up and be on a bus at 5:30am - 6:00am and be able to understand AP Pysics??? It's obscene to make these kids have to be at school so early.
Barbara R.
9:33 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
My kids (now college age or older) got up early and went to school early. They also played sports and took mostly AP classes. They all graduated in the top 10 of their class.
It's all about time management and not staying up until 1 or 2 a.m. watching youtube videos or being on FB.
Just my 2 cents......
Chuck Burton
10:32 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Studies have shown that teens need aboujt 9 hrs sleep to function at their peak levels. How can they get that and still participate in athletics, etc. hold an evening job, do 3 hrs of homework and so on? Maybe school days should have fewer hours. Maybe what are really semi-pro teams without pay should be eliminated. Maybe time should be given during the day for what is now homework. Long school days teach kids how to appear to be doing a job while goofing off. Team sports teach them that they are not as important as is the organization. Homework teaches them to take work home without expectation of extra pay or recognition. Just what our growing totalitarian government wants them to learn.