Eastbayri.com

BARRINGTON — To the editor:

With regard to the Ms. Merlino’s letter, “School start times should not be switched”:

The studies that have been done of a later start time for teenagers’ schools address what Ms. Merlino called the “real world” situations and experiences.

These studies tracked the real effects of later start times for school. The studies found that a later start time led to benefits that included improved attendance, students being able to complete more work during school hours, improved behavior, less depression, fewer disciplinary issues, fewer reported problems between peers and with parents, and fewer car accidents.

In effect, teenagers were better off emotionally, physically, socially and academically when they have a later start time for school. Drawbacks included difficulties in scheduling after-school activities, adjustments to bus schedules, interference with after-school jobs and scheduling events with other school districts.

Ms. Merlino expressed three specific points of concern: 1. How would other school districts respond to a change in Barrington’s school schedule? 2. It would be bad if teenagers had to stay up later to do school work 3. It would not be appropriate for fourth and fifth grade students to get out earlier for the school bus.

With regard to the first question, I cannot speak to how other schools would accommodate a change in Barrington’s schedule. However, there are many private schools in Rhode Island with later dismissals that participate in after-school activities. To Ms. Merlino’s second point, teenagers naturally stay up late to do work. This is part of the logic of a later starting time for school: it more naturally fits the real life rhythms of teenagers. To the third point, personally, I would not mind my fourth grade son or daughter having to be at the bus stop before 7 a.m.

In one school district that did move to a later start time, some parents shared Ms. Merlino’s concerns about the effects of later starts on busing, athletics, child care, etc. At the end of the first year of implementation, 92 percent of respondents to a survey said they preferred the later start times. Moving the start time of school to a later time is not without consequences but does work and works well in the real world.

Respectfully,

Greg Knight

Barrington