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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

#21
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 can enjoy longer break in spring and fall, where outdoor weather is much better to get around.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#22
post #10

8:30 or later. Good. I say start it at 10. Let the kids sleep in and be happier for it.

Ten sounds like a nightmare for working parents. Eight seems like a completely reasonable start time to me, yet this law prevents that. Schools should be able to decide for themselves based off of the parents and what works for those in the district.

But if all schools have to start later, employers will need to work around that

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#23
post #10

8:30 or later. Good. I say start it at 10. Let the kids sleep in and be happier for it.

Ten sounds like a nightmare for working parents. Eight seems like a completely reasonable start time to me, yet this law prevents that. Schools should be able to decide for themselves based off of the parents and what works for those in the district.

Don't working parents already have a nightmare with school day ending around 2pm? This would just shift some of that nightmare from afternoon to morning.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#24
post #16
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their parents will still likely wake them up when they go off to work.

I am VERY close to this situation, I'm married to a California teacher. Most of the kids hate this idea. 1. They know they and everyone else will just stay up later. 2. School will go on too late in the day, sports participation is dropping appreciably. 3. Those who work after school or school/sports are quitting sports to work, and planning ways to leave when they did previously to go to work. This is incredibly sho…

It feels like something that might better be decided at the local school district level.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#25
post #15
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ten sounds like a nightmare for working parents. Eight seems like a completely reasonable start time to me, yet this law prevents that. Schools should be able to decide for themselves based off of the parents and what works for those in the district.

That's because the law is based around what's been observed behaviorally/biologically. Not what's good for working parents Schools shouldn't be forcing developing humans into a schedule that impairs their ability to learn and function, no matter what they want to decide

If they do enough physical and mental labor during the day and turn off their smart phones at night, they’ll have no issue going to sleep early enough.

On the other hand if you do nothing mentally stimulating or physically tiring all day long, then of course you won’t be able to sleep till late.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#26
post #15
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ten sounds like a nightmare for working parents. Eight seems like a completely reasonable start time to me, yet this law prevents that. Schools should be able to decide for themselves based off of the parents and what works for those in the district.

That's because the law is based around what's been observed behaviorally/biologically. Not what's good for working parents Schools shouldn't be forcing developing humans into a schedule that impairs their ability to learn and function, no matter what they want to decide

What is behaviorally/biologically beneficial varies by individual. Societal life should be a factor as that does factor into the holistic well-being of the student. Not just some myopic rule about start times that negatively impacts everything else (after school activities, jobs, parent schedules, etc).

"Schools shouldn't be forcing developing humans into a schedule that impairs their ability to learn and function, no matter what they want to decide"

If you actually believe that, then you have to be against this law. Any schedule will negatively affect someone. A later schedule would have been terrible for me.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#27
post #18
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a high schooler needs to be driven to school by their parent, there is a serious street safety/transit problem which should be solved.

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

As an anecdote, 100% of my class was coming to the school and back without being supervised since age 8. This was in 90s and not in the US, but the gap of "mature enough to go to school" between my experience and the statement feels a bit high, somehow.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#28
> “We know that teenagers are the most sleep-deprived age group, and the cause is our own public policy,” said Joy Wake, who helped lead the efforts of the “Start School Later” group in California.

I really doubt that. Sleep deprivation comes in large part from online behavior (source: personal anecdotes). Whether or not anyone wants to talk about that is another matter.

The new law is unlikely to change the sleep-deprived status of students. Parents taking responsibility can.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#29

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…

Schools reused school buses, once they deliver the elementary school kids it is back out (different route) for the next grade. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other schools in your district with other start times.

If the school system would team up with public transit, they are already a quarter of the say to all day bus service for everyone.

Re: New California law requires high schools to start later

#30
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ten sounds like a nightmare for working parents. Eight seems like a completely reasonable start time to me, yet this law prevents that. Schools should be able to decide for themselves based off of the parents and what works for those in the district.

But if all schools have to start later, employers will need to work around that

No they won't. They'll still keep their same schedule, and parents will have to figure out how to deal with it. Some don't have family members that can help, and some enterprising daycares will open up early for school kids to deal with them before school.

Of course, the buses won't run that early, so only well-to-do parents will be able to use those daycares in the first place, leaving poor parents even worse off than they were before.

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