5 Major Drawbacks of Early Morning School Hours
There is one common question that each one of us must have wondered about at some point or the other in our lives – “Why do schools have to start so early?” As a child, most of us loathed getting up early in the morning to rush to school. We longed for the weekends so that we did not have to force ourselves out of bed and wake up at unearthly hours. Even today, watching parents standing at the bus stop with their little kids to send them off to schools at wee hours of winters, when the whole world is sleeping, makes for a merciless sight. Most schools, including top schools in Gurugram, have early morning school hours. Here, we list 5 major reasons why school hours should be reoriented.
Sleep Deprivation
A study published in the 2017 journal, ‘Sleep Health’, revealed that children who start their day at school before 8:30 am in the morning can barely meet the minimum amount of sleep required for their bodies, which is around 8-10 hours.
Breathing Problems
During winter mornings, children travel to school in dangerous early morning smog which impacts their lungs. It also exposes them to life-long breathing problems.
Poor Performance at School
The lack of sleep, especially during the smoggy winter mornings, can result in sulkiness among children and poor performance at school. Moreover, the concept of early morning school hours puts pressure on their sleep process and makes them feel lethargic throughout the day.
No Social Life
It becomes difficult for parents to fulfil social commitments during the week, as children have to get up early to go to school the next day. Children have to miss evening family gatherings or functions. Also, when kids sleep late, they sleep in buses, which often results in injuries.
No Quality Time with Family
Parents spend mornings getting kids ready and dropping them off to the bus stop and then getting ready themselves. It is a constant struggle. If school timings synced with office timings, mornings could be spent for exercising, self-study, morning walks and enjoying neighbourhood facilities.
Therefore, all schools, including schools in Gurgaon, need to reconsider the school timings that can accustom with the lifestyle of the children who have working parents.
Changing a school’s start time involves a wide array of people — parents, teachers, students, principals, school boards, among others. The impact is felt at a community level. In our country, the concept of reorienting the school hours to align it with the realities of the working parents has not yet been acknowledged by school authorities in many states. While schools in 45 states of the USA have started showing empathy towards the kids by already pushing their start times back to fall in line with the biological clock of the students, the situation in India is a little bit conflicting.
Urban city planners favour early school timings because they believe that if the hours clash with the office timings, there will be more chaos on the road. They also feel that since the buildings heat up during the peak hour of the day, which is around 3 pm, children should reach home before that. Unfortunately, such reasons still not justify putting children through such outrageous timings.
School authorities in India must start working towards plugging this gap and be more empathetic towards the kids and the teenagers.
SHEMFORD Futuristic School, Gurugram, Sector-47, Malibu Towne has flexible school timings so that both parents can synchronize their child’s school timings to their own work timings, and build their own careers without compromising on their child’s learning and safety. The school starts at 9 am, which not only makes mornings less hectic for parents but also ensures that children get sufficient sleep, enjoy better health, concentrate better and participate more in learning activities. The school offers three different shifts – 9 am – 1 pm, 9 am – 3:30 pm and 9 am – 6:30 pm – which parents can choose from to suit their individual convenience and requirements. If you are looking for your child’s school admission in Gurgaon, you may visit this school, which is amongst the top schools in Gurugram.
