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Here is a draft 250-word response letter: Dear Headteacher, I am writing regarding the proposal to start the school day two hours later. As the parent of a teenager, I have experienced the morning struggles to get my child out of bed. The passage provides compelling evidence that later school start times could benefit students' health, well-being and academic performance. Starting later would allow teenagers to get the sleep their developing bodies need. The research shows lack of sleep harms learning and mental health. With 87% of students not getting enough sleep, later starts could help reduce risks like depression and obesity. As a parent, I want what's best for my child's development. Later starts also seem to improve classroom behavior

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Vinu Kapoor
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25 views

R - Untitled Document

Here is a draft 250-word response letter: Dear Headteacher, I am writing regarding the proposal to start the school day two hours later. As the parent of a teenager, I have experienced the morning struggles to get my child out of bed. The passage provides compelling evidence that later school start times could benefit students' health, well-being and academic performance. Starting later would allow teenagers to get the sleep their developing bodies need. The research shows lack of sleep harms learning and mental health. With 87% of students not getting enough sleep, later starts could help reduce risks like depression and obesity. As a parent, I want what's best for my child's development. Later starts also seem to improve classroom behavior

Uploaded by

Vinu Kapoor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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RESPONSE LETTER (Teenagers, Sleep and School)

The following passage is an article from a magazine about young people and their
health.

For many parents of teenagers, wherever they live, the morning school day regime is a
form of torture: while younger children are up earlier than adults may like, their teenage
offspring have to be cajoled, nagged or threatened out of bed before anybody in the
family can start their day.

Parents the world over need little convincing that adolescents’ sleep patterns are
different from both younger and older people, but there is growing scientific evidence
that teenagers aren’t just lazy or lethargic in the mornings. Medical people call it ‘phase
delay’, when puberty seems to make it hard for young people to get to sleep at night
and keeps them in their beds for longer in the mornings. It’s officially not their fault that
the rest of the world runs to a different rhythm. The working world, at least the world of
offices where most adults work these days, would need completely restructuring, just
for younger employees, if such ideas were to be taken seriously. Having said that, if
schools were to take such notions on board, the logistics of getting children of different
ages to school at different times doesn’t bear thinking about and teachers would surely
end up working longer hours.

Hard-pressed parents who struggle to wake these sleepy teenagers in the morning may
be interested to learn that 96 per cent of teenagers in a UK project reported that they
had used a mobile phone, tablet or other device in the last 30 minutes before sleep.
These devices mimic the light from the sun and trick the brain into wakefulness,
interfering with the body’s natural sleep patterns.

Some studies have shown that average teenagers are seriously sleep-deprived and the
consequences for their health and education are startling. In one research study, 87 per
cent of high school students in the US were estimated to sleep less than the 8.5 or 9
hours considered essential for them, running the risk of increased levels of obesity,
depression and anxiety. With such conditions apparently on the rise amongst young
people, some doctors in America are adamant that lack of sleep and the subsequent
loss of learning is, as one said, ‘a bigger factor in under-achievement than any other
single factor’.

Interestingly, one observation made by teachers in schools which have changed to a


later start time was that behaviour in class improved, adding weight to the medical
evidence that aggression and violence increase when teenagers get too little sleep. It’s
just common sense that tired students don’t learn well, but in schools where lessons
start later than average there was better punctuality, less absenteeism, and teenagers
enjoyed their lessons more.

Ironically, however, schools these days are often under pressure to start earlier to give
pupils as many opportunities as possible in a competitive world. Earlier start times allow
for extra-curricular activities of all kinds after school, from revision sessions to sports,
drama clubs to debating societies. Students themselves are aware that they need these
after-school opportunities to impress colleges and universities as well as potential
employers these days. Education specialists, however, argue for schools to start later so
that teenagers can maximise their chances of getting a good education and reduce the
risk of serious health problems. Even an extra half hour of sleep can make a big
difference to both.

Surprisingly, parents and teachers have sometimes resisted moves to change to a later
school start time, despite the evidence that early starts harm their teenage children.
Some worry that students will have less time for homework or will simply stay up later
at night. Older children of working parents are often needed to take care of siblings
after school and many have part-time jobs or volunteer after school – all valuable
learning experiences in themselves.

The rest of society, of course, dances to a different beat. Perhaps teenagers are already
over-indulged and should simply learn that nobody likes getting up in the morning. But if
you’re the long-suffering parent of a sleep-deprived adolescent, it might be worth
asking what their school could do to make life for your child, and probably the rest of
the family, healthier and more productive.

Question:

Imagine that you are a parent of a teenager who attends a school which is considering
starting the school day two hours later.

Write a letter to the headteacher giving your views.

In your letter, you should:


• consider the advantages and disadvantages of starting school later for children,
parents and the wider community
• explain the reasons why you agree or disagree with a later start for the school day.

Base your letter on what you have read in the passage, but be careful to use your own
words.

Address each of the bullet points.

Begin your letter: ‘Dear Headteacher … ’

Write about 250 to 350 words.

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