Would you be in favor of your state passing a law that mandates later start times for middle and high schools?

👍 Yes (68%) – "As a high school teacher who has taught at a school that started after 8 AM and who currently teaches at a school that starts at 7:20 AM, I know first-hand there’s a drastic difference for those teenagers. While it’s nice to have earlier start times for their extracurricular activities, it would be nice to have more productive students in the classroom."

• "I would love to see this, but along with more school changes overall. If schools going to start after 830 then kids will be getting home at like 4 o’clock which is very late. And, I think it’s not a political issue but more of an everyone issue getting the school days to a shorter length overall and keeping the school year between Labor Day and Memorial Day, so that our kids have more time to be kids."
• "Working as a middle school educator, our early start time physiologically does not make sense. We have moved from an era of mass production (post WWII) to an era of flexible work spaces, distance learning, and seeing the direct impact not enough rest can have on puberty aged kids. Sleep is one of the easiest "fixes" to a much larger emotional and mental well being issue we are seeing play out in every classroom in the United States."
• "I am a teacher and a parent, from both perspectives its important to have a later start time as the students are more awake- have eaten, haven't rushed their morning routine and are ready to learn. As a parent I can help set better habits, and maybe I wouldn't have to rush out the door so fast or early due to my early start time and the very important morning prep work that often needs to be done. While beneficial to students it will likely also support the mental health of teachers too!"

👎 No (19%) – "As a current high school teacher in Florida whose school starts at 830am on the dot, this is bogus. I applaud the intention, but high schoolers are not going to use the extra time to sleep. They will use it to do anything else other than sleep. I know because they come in and tell me all the other things they do instead of sleeping as reasons why they are tired EVERY MORNING."

• "For working parents the later start time would pose a problem with getting kids to school and making it to the office (if you need to go into an office or other on-site work situations). Not all families have a stay-at-home parent or a parent with an at home work situation."

🤷 Unsure/other (13%) – "On one hand, I agree with having school start later for these kids. Research clearly shows it's beneficial. However, many employers don't give a hoot about school starting times and won't be flexible with parents to drop kids off and get to work on time. Unless employers change their tune, then this would be a huge stress for parents, which inevitably means stress mostly on mothers, who already have enough to deal with."