Just a thought here...

[MissMillie]

It's pretty well documented that small children get up at the crack of dawn. It's also pretty commonly accepted that teens need more sleep.


So how come the teenagers in high school start their school day earlier than the younger elementary school kids?


Why hasn't anyone considered this before?

[WCGreen]

1. That's progress for ya.......

They have to indoctrinate the teens into a life time of punch clock routine.... Who cares if they aren't on the same rythme...

I'm sure it effected me since I am a night person who, unfortunately, choice a profession, accounting, that is very day light oriented....

[nutsnberries]

2. it has been considered. around here... [bit of a rant!]

local principal of high school has been petitioning for the high schoolers to start last for years now.
she points to that documentation you speak of - teens bodies start to wake around 9, younger kids- earlier.
so why should the high school kids be standing out waiting for buses at 6:30?

the most reasonable answer is this:
most kids have jobs or extra-curricular activities that they are at for hours after school.
if their day started later, this would only give them a couple of hours, instead of a few, to do these things and their commute (and sports teams'buses too) would be complicated by rush-hour traffic.
another reason is that older kids often commute to school in the morning with their parents going to work which makes earlier better.
Let me add that busing costs have gone up astronomically, and many parents choose to drop their kids off in the morning on their way to work to avoid paying the high cost of the bus and kids with licenses drive themselves.
It's a suburban/semi-rural area. Too far for most kids to walk.
So, instead of what was, until 3 years ago, state-subsidized buses picking up almost all of the kids in town,
we have huge bus fees which cause most people in town to choose to DRIVE kids to school. Some carpool, but still it's cars instead of buses taking the majority of kids.
This makes the morning commute and drop-off lines at schools long... instead of a simple drop-off there are lines and lotsa gas being consumed!
The buses that do travel, have to have a longer route (cost of gas means making sure the bus is full or over-full).
Longer routes mean having to start EARLIER!
High school kids are picked up at about 6:30. It's dark at 6:30... those kids should be IN BED not standing on the street!

did i mention that on top of these new bus fees, at the high school level, we have new sports fees?
yeah, only the kids whose parents have money can play sports, cuz it costs lotsa money to transport teams!
family-frikkin-values my a$$ !!!!! :nuke: {that could turn into a sub-rant - i'll spare us all that one!}

Long story short? I agree with you and *B*U*S*H S*U*C*K*S

[MissMillie]

3. my kid's extra-curricular starts at 5:30 a.m.

he's on the NJROTC drill team and color guard. The athletic department won't let them have the gym to practice except for at that ungodly hour.

[nutsnberries]

5. that's insane. i'm sorry to hear that.

after i posted i was thinking of the kids that do things BEFORE school.
it's really ridiculous.

i hope your son gets to bed at a decent hour or he gets to have a siesta after school!

[eyesroll]

4. There are many reasons given:

--So that the older kids will be home when their younger siblings arrive
--So that the younger kids don't wait for busses in the dark
--Jobs and extracurricular activities keep kids busy into the evening, and pushing school later in the day will keep them up even later

Notice that none of these have to do with learning or natural rhythms.

Some high schools are starting to open later.

[BigMcLargehuge]

6. that question has been going on for a while now

even in the press.