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New California law requires high schools to start later

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Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#121
post #48

I never understand the schedule for schools: 1. elementary school starts at 7:30AM, middle school at 8:20, high school at 9:10 here. So, the youngest kid gets up at 6:50AM, older ones at 7:50AM, oldest at 8:40(assuming you're not too far from school that is). why the youngest ended up getting up the earliest puzzles me. 2. School is off in hot summer and cold winter, I would prefer they study on campus then, so they…

A recent economist article explains it well: >Since the 1950s Americans have been moving away from cities to sprawling suburbs with limited public transport. Families became car-dependent and buses were used to get pupils to school. But to save money schools often have to share bus fleets. High-schoolers are usually picked up first, then middle school, to prevent elementary pupils from waiting in the morning darkness…

Your parent comment said

> the youngest kid gets up at 6:50AM, older ones at 7:50AM, oldest at 8:40

The comment you posted said

> High-schoolers are usually picked up first, then middle school, to prevent elementary pupils from waiting in the morning darkness.

They seem opposite, no?

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use an alarm. Eat cereal. Use the microwave. These are all non problems that any half functioning adult or high school kid can think of solutions to.

If the kids are really so sleep deprived that we need a law about it, then it's likely some will sleep past their alarms. Dictating diet by limiting options doesn't sound like a great plan to me. You know what else is a non-problem? The current start times.

I see the argument you are making and just want to suggest that this law is trying to help out the kids who are both capable of getting to school on their own regardless of start time, who would also benefit from the extra sleep. I suspect that this is the majority of the population of teenagers. Public schools are not really a free market where kids get to pick and choose based on features like start times. Most are selected because it is the only practical option for the family's means. In the absence of market pressure, using legislation to improve people's lives isn't wrong.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#123
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't trust a highschool aged kid to go to school on their own, early start times aren't going to change anything. Heck, you can drive them to the building and watch them walk inside and they'll just walk right out the back. Delinquent kids dgaf. Now for the not totally delinquent but still up for sketchy borderline behaviour kids, finishing early and having couple hours between the end of class and when their…

If the kids really have a hard time waking up (the point t of this law), then it's possible they over sleep. Many parents might not be comfortable with their kid cooking breakfast unsupervised too. If they're in after school activities and/or have a job, then it seem unlikely that they would get into trouble anyways. Pushing the time back will make these after school activities unfeasible for many, and limit opportun…

my ten year can cook breakfast, on a gas stove too. and besides there are plenty of breakfast options that don't require cooking. worst case, they reheat in the microwave what parents cooked earlier.

if a 15 year old can't be unsupervised at home, then their parents have different problems besides letting them cook for themselves.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#125
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the bigger issue is unsupervised minors. Not all high schoolers are mature enough to be left alone and go to school. I suppose this could be solved by pre-care, but that make this bill completely moot.

>Not all high schoolers are mature enough to be left alone and go to school. That's insane. I walked to school at 6. At 8, I walked to the bus stop and rode a public transit bus to school. The helicoptering has gone way to far and it is creating generations of crippled kids. I wonder if this is solely caused by the media pushing fear or if there are other factors.

I agree. We need to change the laws, case law, and societal expectations to stop threatening parents over lack of supervision.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#126
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say "nothing to do with parents." But kids in that age range can do quite a few things on their own. I was in college in a different city at 16.

It's not so much them getting to school on their own, yes they can easily do that. It's making sure they are actually awake. When my kids were teens, if someone was not there to make sure they got up, they would sleep until 10 or 11. Alarms, etc. had basically no effect they could sleep through a tornado.

Fair enough. I was driven to high school by my mother. 9am classes in university were tough and they were just a short walk away :-)

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#127

Elementary school kids have an easier schedule and tend to go to bed early. Teens in high school tend have a more intense schedule ( academics, sports, other activities). The teen body is growing more quickly and they need about 8 to 10 hrs of sleep. I know high schools that start at 7:50 am, that is criminal. Let the teens sleep in..

Used to be bedtime for even high schoolers would be 10 PM or earlier. No computers, one TV for the whole house.

So getting up at 7 to make an 8:30 start wasn't so bad. My high school was a fifteen minute walk, or a similar bus ride in the winter. So it wasn't so bad.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#130
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already have daycare picking the kids up. Now they have to drop the kids off, and the kids can't really do anything at daycare because they are quickly getting into the bus to get to school, then when off school there is less time to do anything before their parents pick them up again.

No high school student is going to daycare though, and this law is specifically for high school students.

This is a bit anti-DEI. Special needs and kids with behavioral issues do need that. Now they would need it twice a day.
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