Sophia Pathways For College Credit – English Composition I ✓ Solved

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I SAMPLE

Are you ready to write Touchstone 5? The essay below provides an example of an advanced level argumentative essay. As you read through the essay, notice how the author effectively incorporates elements of argument, has a strong thesis statement which takes a stand on one side of a debatable topic, and utilizes the classical model of argumentation with effective incorporation and utilization of support.

Teenage Sleep and School Start Times. John, an average teenager, tries to get to school on time in the mornings. He sets two alarms on his phone and often skips a shower or breakfast, or both, so that he doesn’t miss the school bus that stops at his corner at 7:00 AM. Once at school, John joins his sleep-deprived peers in mad dashes to their first classes. School is on, whether students are prepared to learn or not. According to numerous studies, the average U.S. teenager gets between 7 and 7.25 hours of sleep a night, while his body needs between 9 and 9.5 hours. With the average start time for high school in the U.S. at 8:03 AM, it’s not a great leap to conclude many high school students are sleep-deprived. High schools should implement later start times to maintain healthy biological functions and to maximize learning for teenagers.

Sleep deprivation in teens affects their health, including issues like mood and behavior, increased anxiety or depression, use of caffeine, tobacco, or alcohol, and even weight gain. Lack of sleep increases the likelihood that teens across all socio-economic spectrums will be unable to concentrate and will suffer poor grades in school as a result. In addition, teens, already in a high risk category as new drivers, are more susceptible to “drowsy-driving incidents.” These are all compelling reasons to consider changes in school start times for teenagers.

Our internal body clocks — what scientists call circadian rhythm — regulate biological processes according to light and dark. When our eyes tell us it’s dark, we begin to tire, and when our eyes tell us it’s light, we begin to waken. Adults often refer to themselves as a “morning person” or a “night person” because they’ve become accustomed to their internal clocks and can anticipate the times they are most alert and active. Teenagers, however, experience a shift in their circadian rhythm when puberty strikes and often feel alert later at night, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. When they have to wake up early to go to school, they are being deprived of the sleep their body needs.

Along with a shift in their sleep patterns, today’s teens are avid users of electronic media. The lack of sleep is exacerbated when teens are exposed late at night to lit screens, which send a message via the retina to the portion of the brain that controls the body’s circadian clock. The message: It’s not nighttime yet. While putting away the electronic gadgets at bedtime might help, the fact remains that, biologically, teens’ circadian rhythms are shifting to a later time, and they have trouble getting to sleep at night, even when they’re tired.

The result of this shift in sleep patterns — due to both puberty and the use of electronic media — can be compared to jet lag. Travelers who cross time zones often need a day for their bodies to adjust to the new light and dark signals they’re receiving. When teens wake up too early day after day, they have difficulty thinking or performing well because their internal clocks never have a chance to adjust. Imagine dragging yourself around in a jet-lag fog as you attempt to process information and perform job-related duties on a daily basis.

Beginning in 2014, major national health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have issued policy statements that recommend later start times for high school students. These institutions recognize the negative impacts an early school starting time can have on not only the health of teenagers but on their academic performances as well. With later start times, studies find that attendance increases and tardiness decreases. Test scores and grades improve, and there are fewer “drowsy-driving incidents” among teens.

A University of Minnesota study released in 2014 was “the first to conclusively link later morning school starts to higher test scores, better grades, and fewer teen car crashes.” The three-year study examined data gathered from over 9,000 students in eight high schools across the Midwest. With a later start to the school day, high school attendance and test scores improved. Fewer students were tardy, and there was a marked decrease in substance abuse and depression issues. Some schools even reported a noticeable decrease in teens involved in auto accidents.

The results of these studies are strong evidence that teens benefit from a later start for school. Better attendance, better scores on tests, fewer problems with substance abuse and depression, and a decrease in car accidents are all clear indicators that allowing students to sleep an extra couple of hours in the mornings makes a significant difference. Teenagers need a solid educational foundation on which to build their futures, and if they’re sleeping through math class because it’s offered at 8:00 AM, they’re being cheated out of learning opportunities they need. Why then, are many schools reluctant to make these changes?

Some school districts claim that a later start time for high school students would disrupt bus schedules. While bus schedules at many schools are designed by time — transport high school kids first, then middle and elementary school children — as a cost saver, one solution is to simply flip the times. Younger children tend to wake up earlier than teens, so why not make their school start time earlier and teenagers later? Another common objection is that a change in school start time for teens would interfere with athletics and other extracurricular activities. However, districts that have adopted a later start time for teens report few problems in this regard. Practice and game times are merely rescheduled. Some schools even report an increase in athletic participation and improved performance of their teams. It just makes sense that a better rested athlete would perform better.

Teenagers shouldn’t have to forgo breakfast or risk doing poorly on an exam because they are summoned to school at an hour at which they should still be sleeping. High schools should institute a later start time so teenagers can get the sleep they need and arrive at school with their brains fully engaged and ready to learn. This relatively simple fix addresses teens’ biological and educational needs and paves the way for them to mature into productive and healthy adults. It’s time that all high schools in the U.S. recognize the impact of sleep deprivation on their students’ physical and mental health and make adjustments to school start times.

References

• Croft, J.B., Ferro, G.A., & Wheaton, A.G. (2015). School start times for middle school and high school students. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Jens-Olaf, W. (2016, December 20). Why teen brains need a later school start time.
• Richter, R. (2015, October 8). Among teens, sleep deprivation an epidemic. Stanford Medicine News Center.
• Smith, K. (2014, March 13). Research links later start times to benefits for teens. Star Tribune.