Portsmouth High senior pushes for later school start times

Timothy Jackson presents his senior project to Town Council

By Jim McGaw
Posted 5/14/18

PORTSMOUTH — A local student told the Town Council Monday night that high school should start later in the morning, and that most local teachers and students agree with him.

Timothy …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Portsmouth High senior pushes for later school start times

Timothy Jackson presents his senior project to Town Council

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — A local student told the Town Council Monday night that high school should start later in the morning, and that most local teachers and students agree with him.

Timothy Jackson presented his findings to the council as part of his senior project at Portsmouth High School.

PHS starts classes at 7:25 a.m. and ends at 1:55 p.m. Mr. Jackson argued that teenagers who stay up late due to their school workload — homework, studying for tests and other projects — are being deprived of sleep, which can have last effects on them. 

“This is something I care about because all throughout school and all throughout high school, I’ve always been tired,” said the senior, who may also present his project to the School Committee at some point. “It’s hard for me to get everything done before 1 a.m. and then I have to get up at 6 a.m.”

Students who drive to school “could fall asleep at the wheel” and by Friday, “they’re completely worn out and tired,” he said. 

According to his research, sleep deprivation can cause a myriad of problems, including:

• depression

• poor motor skills

• reduced grade point averages

• suicide or thoughts of suicide

• anxiety 

He also argued that teenagers’ jobs may suffer due to their lack of energy after a school day.

After switching to a later start time, Mr. Jackson said East Greenwich High School made a “massive leap” on the nationwide ranking of schools, going from No. 283 in 2015 to No. 186 in 2016, he said. The rankings from Newsweek take into accounts GPAs, graduation rates, AP and SAT and standardized testing scores, he said.

“Portsmouth is not even on the list,” he said. “If we want to be a leader in the state, we want to set an example.”

Most favor later start

The senior also presented the findings from a survey he conducted of students and teachers. He received 203 responses from students and 53 from teachers.

One pie chart showed that 54.7 percent of teachers said they’d prefer a later start time, compared to 45.3 percent who said they wouldn’t.

“The research shows it benefits teens to start school later and we are in the business of educating students,” one teacher is quoted as saying in the report. “If sports are important, students will get up early for practice. Hockey and swim already do!”

An overwhelming majority of students said they wanted school to start later — 82.8 percent, compared to 17.2 percent who want things to stay the same, he said.

“I will be more attentive and focused in school,” one student is quoted as saying in Mr. Jackson’s report. “It would provide me with more energy which would thus increase my productivity.”

Council member David Gleason said he was surprised that today’s high school students were working so late into the night — and early morning. “How many other kids are staying up until 1 o’clock in the morning? That’s what concerns me. That was not part of my high school experience,” he said.

Mr. Jackson replied that very few students he spoke with were in bed by 11 p.m. on school nights. One student told him he suffers from sleep apnea even on vacations due to the stress of school, and can’t get to sleep until 3 a.m., he said.

Replying to a question by council member Linda Ujifusa, Mr. Jackson said he’d like to see the start times for elementary-aged students and high school pupils switched. He acknowledged that may force some PHS students to get their younger siblings off the bus, or for parents to make arrangements for after-school child care.

“It’s certainly not an easy problem to solve,” said Council President Keith Hamilton, who agreed that today’s teenagers aren’t getting enough sleep.

After he was done with his presentation, Mr. Jackson was asked about his plans for after high school. He said he was joining the U.S. Marine Corps. 

“Speaking of lack of sleep …” Mr. Hamilton responded.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.