When the 2021-2022 school year started, my freshman year, we started school at 8:20 a.m. and ended the day at 3:20 p.m. I didn’t think it was too bad since we got out earlier, the part I dreaded was waking up earlier. But when the 2022-2023 school year started, my sophomore year, the time changed from 8:20 to 9:00 starting time and 3:20 to 3:58 ending time. Although we start at a later time, we also get out at a later time and I think that was a change we shouldn’t have gone through.
By the time we get out of school that’s basically our entire day gone. There are some benefits to a later start time such as getting our day started ahead of time like actually getting food in our stomach and getting more tasks done until school begins. There are also some negative aspects, such as the tendency to sleep in longer since we go in so late and because of the tendency to sleep in longer it makes us more lazy to actually get up and get ready to go to school. So we end up going in late or don’t end up going at all. I speak from experience. But by the time we are out of school, the sun starts to set and it starts to cool down more. Especially if students participate in after school activities like a sport or a club. They don’t have proper time to go home and get prepared.
The earlier start time had negative aspects because we didn’t necessarily have a lot of time to get ready since we had to be at school by 8:20 a.m. Unless we got up way earlier than expected but if most struggle now to get up with a later time, imagine how it was before when we had the early start. The earlier release time gave students time to go home and do certain activities like chores and homework and still have time to spare. Whereas now, as soon as we get home, our day is basically over with before we even have a chance to do what we need to do because of how late we get out.
I personally think that the later time change is not better and I do think that we should rotate back to how it was. Although both early and late start times have their negative and positive aspects, it’s overall better having an earlier start and release time because we can get more done with our day.
