..School District
Dear Sir/ Madam,
RE: PROPOSAL TO DELAY SCHOOL’S STARTING TIME
As a parent of a student in your school district, I am concerned that the early morning school start time is affecting my child. My child does not get sufficient sleep. Subsequently, it is affecting his overall school performance. Lately, I have noticed that he comes home with a lot of homework which means that his bedtime is delayed by an average of three hours. Additionally, he is forced to wake up very early so as to catch the school bus and get to school in time. I have noted with concern that my child’s grades are slipping. I would, therefore, like to propose that the schools delay their starting time so that our children can get sufficient sleep.
I would like to see my child go back to being an ace student and I believe this will only happen if they are allowed more time to sleep. When forced to stay up late doing assignments and to wake up very early to get to school in time, the consequence is that they hardly get enough sleep. I have, in several instances caught my child dozing off on the study table while he should be doing his assignments which, I feel, beats the purpose of the assignments. I know this problem is not unique to my child because I have heard the very same complaints from other parents. The children simply do not get enough sleep.
The importance of sleep cannot be overemphasized. Several experiments have even been conducted to illustrate the importance of sleep to the normal functioning of the human brain. Medina, in his book ‘Brain Rules’ indicates that to think well, one must sleep well. The need for enough sleep is universal and for rapidly developing teenagers, like our children, it certainly is no exception. When denied sleep, these children, as I have witnessed in mine, are unable to pay attention, their ability to execute simple functions is impaired while their memory is significantly slowed down. Additionally, they become highly irritable and moody and unable to follow simple logical arguments. Even their motor dexterity is lowered and that, I believe, is not how we want our children’s states of mind to be while in school (Medina, 2008).
Despite the detrimental consequences associated with lack of sleep, it is a relatively simple problem that can be effectively solved with an equally simple solution. If the school starting time could be delayed for only one hour; thereby giving our children an hour of extended sleep, it would ensure that they get sufficient rest to brace and solve the problems in school effectively. When students are well rested, they will be more attentive in class, and their motor skills will be greatly enhanced ensuring that they grasp concepts more easily. This will, in turn, ensure that teachers can cover more content in a relatively short time making up for the one hour ‘lost’ in the morning. When students are more attentive, their grades will invariably improve and we, Mr. Superintendent, all know the power attaining good grades has on a student’s moods and self-esteem. I sure would appreciate every attempt to raise the spirits of my very moody teenager. I highly appreciate your paying attention to my concerns. I hope you will sleep on them and, address them effectively for the betterment of our schools and our children’s lives.
Sincerely,
Parent’s full name
Works Cited
Medina, J. (2008). Brain Rules. Seattle: Pear Press.
