Senior Capstone ℅ 2019

5-24-2019

Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic: An Autoethnography

Evelyn Z. Barrios
Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, ebarrios2019@laleadership.org
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 1

Senior Capstone ℅ 2019

High school should be the time in a student’s life where they experience significant academic

growth upon life-changing obstacles. However, certain students may often find themselves

trapped within their own mental capacity, which prevent them from enjoying experiences that

display their highest capabilities. Internal battles can create large impacts on a student’s

academic progress in school. Therefore, issues of social conformity within high schools should

be acknowledged by society and taken into consideration when it comes to understanding the

mental health of students.

Keywords: ​High school, mental health, students, impacts.

Acknowledgements
Thank you to my significant other for staying up late with me to help me write this paper.
Thank you to my best friend for never letting me put my head down, for always acknowledging
all of my efforts. Thank you Mom for always believing in my entire being. Thank you Brittany
Estrada, Michelle Wirtz, and Cynthia Cuprill for teaching me to be a hardworking and
ambitious young woman. I love you all with my whole heart.
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 2

Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic: An

Autoethnography

Evelyn Z. Barrios
Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, Los Angeles, California, USA

High school should be the time in a student’s life where they experience the most in life and in

school. However, many students can catch themselves in different obstacles in which prevent

them from enjoying many experiences and opportunities that further their success. Internal

battles can have a large impact on a student’s academic progress in school. Therefore, social

conformity issues within high schools should be acknowledged and taken into consideration

when it comes to the mental health of students.

The Incident

It happened on a late Monday afternoon, when my mom picked me up from school. I

stayed an hour later than the dismissal time in order to complete extra credit for my English

class. I needed sleep. It was then that I heard the words come from my sweet mother’s mouth,

she had a rough day herself. She asked me how my day was and I didn’t say the usual “it was

fine”, I cried this time. I remember telling her about the night before, the night where she asked
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 3

me at 12:30 am if I was going to bed soon, the night where the rest of my family was fast asleep

while I was enduring a headache, sleep deprivation and many other dragging emotions on a

school night. It was hell. Anyways, I began to explain to her that I started to notice how unjust

he education system has become since I started high school. I began to notice how students

nowadays get by and pass by cheating in classes, rather than putting in actual hard work and

dedication towards academics. School began to seem like a competition rather than an

accomplishment to me.

I often spent long nights half asleep, trying to finish all of my schoolwork, only to notice

that I would often receive lower grades than other students who spent minutes before class,

copying off other’s work. At this point, as I’m continuing the story, I break down. I began to

feel anger, regret, and pity for myself. I started to question whether my hard work was even

worth it and that hit me pretty deep. My mom witnessed all of it, all of my hurt and breaking, as

she tried to understand all of it at the same time. Unfortunately, she did not get the opportunity

to graduate from high school or continue her education, due to family necessities. On that cold

late afternoon, we talked for hours in that car. She was my shoulder to cry on, my therapist. I

felt as if I was stuck in a chokehold before I told her my problems in school.

After that realization, I saw my work ethic slowly disintegrate, I noticed my efforts go

into a blur, and my thoughts explode in my head. I definitely felt different. School surely felt

like a chore, an ongoing chore. Although I loved seeing my four friends every day at school, as

we shared laughs and stories, I absolutely dreaded getting out of bed every morning. I began to

not care if I showed up to school at 8:15 am or 9:00 am. This realization made me prioritize my

sleep, which was a pretty big transition in my life. Some may look at it as a positive transition,
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 4

but in my world, it just meant that I stopped trying in school. I used to stress about doing

everything ​to now doing absolutely ​nothing. ​No matter what, my mentality was really

deteriorating, all because I prioritized school work and not my mental health.

I asked myself if this was really the path I was heading towards, down a path of

pessimism, or so I thought. My mentality was now all over the place and I felt as if I lost my

path. Everyday felt harder and harder as I reminisce the days where I would enjoy showing my

hard work. My days felt slow and long. I would always lie when asked how my day at school

went and I would say it went fine. I wasn’t myself. Senior year was supposed to be my year of

fun, hard work, accomplishments and success. However, I felt the complete opposite of that; I

felt as if everyone around me was succeeding and I stayed at the bottom of the trench. Day after

day I would come late to school, I didn’t care about the classes I missed, I no longer tried to

make up any assignments or anything. All because I never had enough sleep, I never had the

energy anymore.

My mother began to worry about me, her only youngest daughter, the one who she had

most hopes for. She worried about my well being and my success and I deeply appreciated her

concern, but I didn't know how to tell her that I was lost within myself. This year in particular

has affected me more negatively than any other time in my life and I was disoriented to this way

of living. This was the school year where I had multiple parent conferences, daily tardy slips,

slipping grades, loss of interest and loss of sleep. How would I be able to tell my own mother

that I don’t see a future for myself anymore? I let school get the best of me even when I was

constantly told to never lose hope in succeeding. I used to be an optimistic, resilient student

until school just felt like it was doing too much to my brain.
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 5

Students should never feel discouraged to keep trying in school due to prioritizing the

wrong things. If our system changed the way they reward students for their kind of work instead

of its quality, students could prevent these sleeping disorders and mental health damages.

Analysis

Introduction

My experiences have shaped me into the person I am today. As I continued to face many

obstacles within my inner self, I also was able to learn more about my capabilities, strengths and

weaknesses at the same time. How does one define a “battle”? Anyone can define it in many

different unique ways. In the end, all any individual would want is to achieve their goals after

battling many obstacles in order to reach them.

Disorders developed in high school have been acknowledged for many years throughout

the history of academics. However, students managing a healthy sleep cycle has hardly ever

been prioritized by society, and that can be a widespread issue. As stated in an article written by

Ruthann Ritcher, an author who works with Stanford Medicine, “Among teens, sleep

deprivation is an epidemic,” (2019, p. 1). Ritcher mentions how schools in America do not

adjust to their forms of scheduling with the different lifestyles of the students. With this in

mind, as researchers begin to compare lifestyles to early school bell schedules, convincing and

evident results arise, portraying that the American educational system should allow schools to

start later. When we compare America’s bell schedules in school to different places around the

world, we start to see a country that suffers with time management, health issues, and an overall

unnatural structure of social life.

Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 6

The incident I shared about my struggles has really continued to affect me for a long part

of my teenage life. The beginning of high school was the start of it all, and the issue continued

to escalate, as I learned more about it. As I acknowledged the problem further, I began to notice

that it has been a widespread topic studied by many well-known organizations, such as Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, and that it has affected many teens and adolescents in

school. Yet, no one is talking about it, as if the problem were nonexistent. CDC is an

organization that brings awareness to the prevention of any disease, and here the most evident

issue is sleep insufficiency in high school students. CDC mentions how the issue is

“exceptionally” common in the United States (2018, p. 1). In addition, the ignorance placed

upon our suffering teens still fails to obtain the full attention of society, even when severe

damages cannot be cured or interchanged again. The article states, “​Not getting enough sleep is

common among high school students and is associated with several health risks including being

overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs, as well as poor academic

performance. One of the reasons adolescents do not get enough sleep is early school start

times,” (CDC,2018, p.1). This may further induldge into the protocol that connects to the

importance of prioritizing an individual’s sleep and health rather than only prioritizing their

education and punctuality.

This is where sleeping disorders come into place. Developed sleeping disorders can have

many negative effects on a student’s work ethic. An example of a developed sleeping disorder

would be insomnia, which is simply the inability to sleep, which, in most cases, can be to the

extreme. According to the University Health Center of Georgia, “[insufficient sleep impacts our

health, our moods, our GPAs and our safety]” (2019, para. 1 & 2). An immediate concern to this
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 7

disorder would be daytime sleepiness, which can affect the adolescent body and mind in many

negative ways. Insomnia is only one of the many disorders that can affect work ethic, and it can

cause a student’s inability to function academically. Knowing this, society should pay more

attention to how schools limit students within their own abilities.

Study of Focus

Students who are deprived from natural human activity, such as developing healthy

habits during their adolescent stages, may have the inability to expand their minds and inner

growth. Knowing this information, society should take sleeping disorders within adolescents to

a larger consideration, since the millennial generation is seen as the technologically advanced

generation in this era.

The “new generation” is often represented as the group of people who know best about

the world and its advancements. If this is true, why should these millennials have so much

conflict in social activity? After numerous studies based on early schedules starting from

7:30-8:00 AM, it is subtly noticeable that regular bell schedules often disrupt natural routines,

such as focusing in school or work environments, driving, and something as simple as

completing errands. According to Stanford Medicine, the way the system is adjusted is

definitely an epidemic issue (​HiRichter, 2019)​. Society as a whole should be more informed

about the idea that adolescents and millennials may be able to function better if they were

allowed a healthier sleeping cycle before a school day (​HiRichter, 2019). ​Considering American

schools’ early bell schedule, it is clear that adolescent behaviors, transitions in character, and

damages in health are caused by disintegrating sleep cycles which negatively influence

students’ work ethic in school.

Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 8

Adolescent Behavior

Adolescent behavior can be one of the leading factors of negative effects in social

development of high school teens; mental health blogs such as Georgetown Behavioral Health

Institute informs readers about the detrimental impacts about behavioral change in an

adolescent’s growing stage (Georgetown B.H.I., 2015, p.1). Different behaviors can trigger

different reactions within a growing individual; which can in fact lead to irregular adolescent

habits. As stated in an article about Teenage Behavioral Differences, “Teens go through a series

of emotional and physical changes that can result in baffling behavior. Knowing what is normal

and what is not can help parents spot emerging mental health issues,” (Georgetown B.H.I, 2015,

para. 1). The significance of knowing what is good for a child rises once parents learn what

they can do to help or prevent any serious damage.

Certain behavior such as procrastinating can lead to a loss of interest in social

environments, school being the most well-known. The act of procrastinating is a developed

behavior trait in adolescent teens, due to it being widely common. A study that surveyed

American high school students showed that 87% of U.S. high school students choose to

procrastinate while still knowing the negative impacts (Huffington Post, 2017). This proven fact

only shows that procrastination naturally lures into the behavior of adolescents; thus, it develops

a normalized cycle over time, which negatively affects a student ability to perform well

academically.

Students can perform in a numerous amount of different ways in school. Their certain

behaviors can identify their many differentiated habits that are performed whilst in a school
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 9

environment. Moreover, students who live different lives amongst others students, may

experience different forms of developed habits. For example, when extracurricular activities are

introduced to high school students of any grade level, studies show that students tend to become

torn from personal time for homework, which then leads to an ongoing cycle of struggling to

manage personal time.

Figure 1: ​Clubs (Nelson, 2017)

When personal life activities begin to build up upon a student’s separate educational life,

negative behavioral habits may begin to develop for an ongoing amount of time. These

unadjustable habits are only a few of the leading factors of developed sleeping disorders.

However, students who do not have any control of these habits, still do have the natural human

right to a healthy sleeping cycle. Despite the fact that these habits are mostly initiated, school

tends to be one of the major reasons that students get their daily routines in life interrupted.
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 10

Figure 2: ​How To Keep Balance Between Academics and Sports (View from a Blue

Moon, 2017).

Transition in Character

When a student’s academic performance becomes perceptible that it has been bluntly

dwindling over time, it is in fact a red flag that society as a whole should definitely take a

change in school schedules into high consideration. Transitions in individual character display a

major factor that can degrade a students’ work ethic and ability. Students can be once seen as

resilient and passionate in their studies; however, when sleeping disorders get in the way of

their capabilities and accomplishments, it can affect a student’s desire to continue to try hard in

school (AASM, 2008). Due to this reasoning, studies that display a significant amount of

change in a students academic performance when scheduling times are changed or delayed

should be acknowledged and set as a priority.

To prevent sleeping disorders from escalating to an all-time high, schools all over the

U.S nation should take other options for their scheduling into consideration. According to UW
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 11

News, students feel themselves perform better in school when running on a sufficient amount of

sleep,

When Seattle Public Schools announced that it would reorganize school start

times across the district for the fall of 2016, the massive undertaking took more than a

year to deploy. Elementary schools started earlier, while most middle and all of the

district’s 18 high schools shifted their opening bell almost an hour later — from 7:50

a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Parents had mixed reactions. Extracurricular activity schedules

changed. School buses were redeployed.

And as hoped, teenagers used the extra time to sleep in.

In the journal ​Science Advances​, researchers at the University of Washington and the

Salk Institute for Biological Studies announced that teens at two Seattle high schools got

more sleep on school nights after start times were pushed later — a median increase of

34 minutes of sleep each night. This boosted the total amount of sleep on school nights

for students from a median of six hours and 50 minutes, under the earlier start time, to

seven hours and 24 minutes under the later start time (UW News, par. 1, 2018).

This study shows that it has, in fact, been proven that the issue of sleeping less on school

nights has affected the academic performance of students. According to the University of

Washington (Urton, J. 2018), academic performance has been shown to improve after having

students sleep more and come into school an hour later than the usual given time. This article

personally brought me back to a time where I experienced coming in an hour later than the

usual 8:00 am sharp starting time. I felt more focused, I worked better, and tardies subsided due

to this change. Personal experiences such as mine and numerous amounts of others’ should be

enough to convince the public to do something about school starting times.

Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 12

Figure 3:​ ​Minnesota Schools who Adjusted to Later Start Times​ ​(M
​ innesota Sleep Society,

2017)​.

Damages in Health

Considering the effects of these obstacles in society, it is crucial to know the sort of

damages in health it causes. According to NAMI, an organization that funds for mental illness

awareness throughout America, studies show that students who are affected by these developed

sleeping disorders caused in school often suffer with the development of depression, anxiety, or

psychological stress and abuse (NAMI, p. 1, 2019). When students already have sleeping

disorders, struggles with time management, and other difficult balances to deal with, developing

an additional mental illness is the last thing anyone would want. However, this is the reality for
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 13

a high-reaching 87% of our student population in America (Gregoire, 2018). The teenage body,

mind, and immune system starts to become affected, due to society’s lack of consideration for

the issue. In William Dikel’s “A Teacher’s Guide to Student Mental Health”, the author

recognizes the importance of acknowledging mental health in a classroom, and knowing what to

do to make school a comfortable environment for someone who suffers from chronic illness.

Twenty percent of children and adolescents have a mental health disorder and in five

percent, the disorder is severe. Chances are that every classroom in America will have at

least one student who has a mental health disorder, possibly even in the severe range.

These students often have symptoms that interfere with their ability to learn. From

Ontario, Canada to California, school districts and state Boards of Education are

recognizing the importance of comprehensive approaches to student mental health that

include teacher education (Dickle, 2014).

Student Mental Health: A Guide for Teachers, Students, and District Leaders also

provides readers with the following influential information:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report of May 2013 (Perou et al.,

2013) estimated that 20% of children and adolescents in the United States have mental

health disorders. It also noted that the prevalence of these disorders appears to be

increasing. Mental health disorders were defined as “serious deviations from expected

cognitive, social and emotional development.” The most common mental health disorder

​ as ADHD at almost 7%, followed by ​conduct disorder (3.5%)​,

[in the classroom] w

anxiety disorders (3%),​ ​depression (2.1%)​, autism spectrum disorder (ASD, 1.1%) and

Tourette’s sydrome (0.2%) (Dikle, 2014, ch. 3, para. 3).

Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 14

Dikle further emphasizes the pivotal information provided, while still arguing how

prevention of mental illness of students in social and academic environments should be

prioritized by society.

​Opinion

The incident I shared about my struggles has really continued to affect me for a long part

of my teenage life. The beginning of high school was the start of it all, and the issue continued

to escalate, as I learned more about it. In the way that our educational system is formed in

America, it is easy to pinpoint its flaws in the way it functions for our people. Behind all pieces

of information picked from research and other valuable sources, it is immensely important to

acknowledge what can be done for our future generations, in order to fix the problem that ties

with adolescents, teens, and their mental health. Although my battles may not be seen as

significant as other struggles within an individual’s inner self, I believe that they can still be

defeated and fought.

Conclusion

After thoroughly depicting my personal experiences and further considering the many

opposing sides to this epidemic issue through research, I was able to observe and discover the

importance of adolescent health and individual stability within an academic atmosphere.

Through much dedicated research, I was able to learn almost every leading factor to sleep

disorders, and how they are often associated with unjustified school schedules in America.
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 15

References

American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2008). ​Poor sleep can negatively affect a student’s

grades, increase the odds of emotional and behavioral disturbance​. N.p.: AASM. Retrieved

from

https://aasm.org/poor-sleep-can-negatively-affect-a-students-grades-increase-the-odds-of-e

motional-and-behavioral-disturbance/

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). ​Schools Start Too Early.​ N.p.: CDC.

Retrieved from ​https://www.cdc.gov/features/school-start-times/index.html

Dikle, W. (2014). ​Student Mental Health: A Guide for Teachers, Students, and District

Leaders.​ N.p.: W. W. Norton & Company. Retrieved from

https://daciciaph.firebaseapp.com/aa570/the-teachers-guide-to-student-mental-health-

norton-books-in-education-by-william-dikel-0393708640.pdf

Georgetown Behavioral Health Institute. (2015). ​7 Differences between Normal and

Abnormal Teenage Behavior.​ N.p.: Mental Health Blog. Retrieved from

https://www.georgetownbehavioral.com/7-differences-between-normal-abnormal-teen

age-behavior

Gregoire, C. (2015). ​5 Scary Health Effects Of Sleep Deprivation During The Teen Years​. N.p.:

Huffington Post. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from

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nd-mental-health_n_55a7bd07e4b04740a3df0fb3
Early Bell Schedules Are An Epidemic Barrios 16

Minnesota Sleep Society. ​MN and National Data on Teen Sleep.​ Minnesota Sleep Society,

2017,

www.mnsleep.net/school-start-time-toolkit/why-improve-sleep-for-teenage-students/mn

-data-on-school-start-times/.

National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2019). ​The Connection Between Sleep and Mental Health​.

Arlington, VA: NAMI. Retrieved from

https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Related-Conditions/Sleep-

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Nelson, Z. (2017). ​Clubs.​ N.p.: The Olympus. Retrieve from

https://www.theolympus.net/features/2017/11/20/clubs/

UW News. (2018). ​Teens get more sleep, show improved grades and attendance with later

school start time, researchers find.​ DC, WA: University of Washington. Retrieved from

​https://www.washington.edu/news/2018/12/12/high-school-start-times-study/

View from a Blue Moon. ​How To Keep Balance Between Academics and Sports​. VFABM,

2018,

www.viewfromabluemoon.com/lifestyle/how-to-keep-balance-between-academics-and-s

ports/. Accessed 23 May 2019.