"Saved by the bell" may be a common refrain among students in classrooms and hallways, but parents and teachers are starting to ask if children should be saved from the bell instead.
Montgomery County parents have signed on to the Start School Later Initiative encouraging lawmakers to start school no earlier than 8 a.m., allowing kids more time for sleep and rest and teachers more time to prepare lessons.
Originating in Severna Park, MD, the petition was presented to members of congress yesterday, according to movement organizer Heather Macintosh, with nearly 5,000 signatures from all 50 states. Over 1,000 of those signatures were from parents and educators in Maryland.
"The [petition] comments range from student pleas for a more humane schedule, to educators wishing their students weren't still asleep, to health professionals and researchers seriously concerned about the damage we're doing to kids' mental and physical health," said movement organizer Heather Macintosh.
In Montgomery County petitioners had the following to say:
"My son will be a 9th grader in the upcoming school year. He and his grades will suffer greatly due to the unhealthy early start of high school," said Maria Lampos of Gaithersburg in the petition.
"With increasing demands on student teacher performance, restricting school start time to after 8 a.m. is the right thing to do. This would give everyone impacted a chance for better success," wrote Christine Zmuda of Potomac.
"The early start time of high school puts tremendous stress on parents as well as children. I have seen this both professionally as a psychologist and personally as a parent. I cannot wait for my younger son to be out of high school so I don't have to get up so early every morning either!" Lisa Meier of Bethesda wrote.
What do you think? Are school hours fine as they are or is there room for change?
I have read about studies that say that we should reverse the current sequence and send the elementary school kids first and the high school kids last. Colleen is obviously talking about a younger son (E.S.?) My daughter goes to Good Counsel H.S. and with school getting out at 2:45, play practice doesn't end until 6:30, IB Music ends at 6:00, sports that can't get a gym or field right after school also go late. If we move back the start time, then they're up even later than they are now doing homework.
But in my opinion, having seen what coaches expect from my little sister, a three and a half hour play practice seems a little long for what should be a fun hobby. My sister's extracurriculars have almost turned into a job.
@Beatriz - a later start would not be beneficial to working parents and that might be at work here. Some parents have wraparound daycare (before and after care) but others can't leave for work until the kids are on the bus.