By Katherine Mueller
Executive Opinion Editor
Having to wake up and get ready for school in the morning is rarely a pleasant experience for any student. This school year, several schools across the country are starting later than before, with Costa not far behind due to a state bill soon to go into effect. Yet, in practice, this law will not do much to help students as a whole and may do more harm than good. In 2019, California announced that by the 2022-23 school year, all high schools will begin classes at 8:30 a.m. The time is running out for Costa to shift its bell schedule in order to comply with this law that was made with the intention of benefiting students’ well being. However, according to Business Insider, this law may not come to fruition due to efforts to make sure students have sufficient time to learn in school, considering much learning potential was lost when schools shut down. In reality, students would benefit most from going to school at the same start time that is currently in place and not having it modified.
Considering that Costa’s first period bell rings at 8 a.m, it is debatable whether starting at 8:30 will truly give students a substantial benefit. Getting between eight to 10 hours of sleep has been the ideal goal for many students whose heavy workload has forced them to sacrifice that privilege.
According to The Sleep Foundation, getting a sufficient amount of sleep heightens academic performance and benefits both physical and mental health, which both are important for teens. However, receiving an extra 30 minutes in the morning will not make up for the several hours lost, nor will it exponentially energize students for the rest of the day according to “Health Guide Organization”.
The students who need this bill the most will unfortunately not be reaping the benefits. A main caveat in the 2019 bill is that it does not affect schools in rural areas, yet more importantly, it does not do anything to push back zero period start times, according to Ed Source. Though logical, considering zero period cannot be rescheduled, the implementation of the bill would do nothing to help a great mass of the student population at Costa who begin class at 7 a.m. If later start times cause later end times as well, zero period students with or without sixth periods would be forced to stay at school for a longer period.
While initially appearing as a benefit for students, later start times could possibly be a great detriment to parents. According to “Inc. Magazine,” many of California’s working adult population goes to work at or near 8:30, therefore narrowing the window for working parents to take their children to school. As a result, working parents would be forced to either rush anxiously out of the house each day, or drop their children off much earlier, defeating the purpose of the later start time.
Despite the fact that the time students would gain would be minimal, some may argue it could still aid students in other ways besides sleep. If this bill were to go into effect at Costa, students could have a bit more time to charge their devices, eat a full breakfast, or mentally prepare for
the day. Yet, this is on the basis that students would still be conditioned to wake up for 8 a.m. class, in which many would no longer be, therefore nullifying this benefit. It is superfluous to change California start times to 8:30 due to the low positive impact it will have on students, and the greater negative impact it could have on both students and parents. By keeping school start times the way they are, and matching those times with appropriate end times, students with good work ethics will be able to survive.
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