<story><title>California’s new law bans schools from starting before 8am</title><url>https://qz.com/1727790/californias-new-law-bans-schools-from-starting-before-8am/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ACow_Adonis</author><text>As someone who lives in a country where schools all uniformly started at 9:00 am (i&amp;#x27;m probably wrong on that, but lets just go with it), what&amp;#x27;s the social-background&amp;#x2F;theoretical reason for starting the school day at 7:00am?&lt;p&gt;From the outside that just seems absolutely bonkers?</text></item><item><author>socalnate1</author><text>My high school started at 7am.  I also took the bus; which picked up around 6:15am; so I usually woke up around 5:45am during the week.  I would often nod off during my first or second period; and routinely took 2-3 hour naps when I got home from school; which screwed up my ability to fall asleep early at night or get much homework done.  I sometimes wonder what my academics would have been like if I was actually awake during those first two periods.&lt;p&gt;(This was in the 90&amp;#x27;s)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>alistairSH</author><text>As noted, bus scheduling. Because the US doesn&amp;#x27;t have a robust public transit system in most regions, it relies on dedicated school buses.&lt;p&gt;The really goofy thing is the schools are traditionally backwards.  High school starts earliest (call it 7:30am), then middle school (call it 8:15am), and then elementary school (9am).&lt;p&gt;Physiologically, that should be reversed, as teenagers have a harder time getting enough sleep and functioning in the morning.&lt;p&gt;Timing-wise, starting ES earlier works out better for many parents, as a 9am school drop-off is too late for them to start their commute.  So, one parent ends up time-shifting their work day in one direction (to drop off or walk to bus stop), and the other parent time shifts the other direction (to be home at the end of the school day).  Failing that, the kid gets sent to in-school day-care before and&amp;#x2F;or after school.&lt;p&gt;If ES started at 7:30am, both parents could start their day at the same time, and only worry about child care after school (if neither can be home mid-afternoon).&lt;p&gt;Or, we could just stop sprawling all over the darn place, build some transit, and start all the school at whatever time makes sense for those students.</text></comment>
<story><title>California’s new law bans schools from starting before 8am</title><url>https://qz.com/1727790/californias-new-law-bans-schools-from-starting-before-8am/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ACow_Adonis</author><text>As someone who lives in a country where schools all uniformly started at 9:00 am (i&amp;#x27;m probably wrong on that, but lets just go with it), what&amp;#x27;s the social-background&amp;#x2F;theoretical reason for starting the school day at 7:00am?&lt;p&gt;From the outside that just seems absolutely bonkers?</text></item><item><author>socalnate1</author><text>My high school started at 7am.  I also took the bus; which picked up around 6:15am; so I usually woke up around 5:45am during the week.  I would often nod off during my first or second period; and routinely took 2-3 hour naps when I got home from school; which screwed up my ability to fall asleep early at night or get much homework done.  I sometimes wonder what my academics would have been like if I was actually awake during those first two periods.&lt;p&gt;(This was in the 90&amp;#x27;s)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>asteli</author><text>Not knowing the real reason, I suspect it&amp;#x27;s so that parents can drive their children to school before starting their commutes to work. What proportion of kids do you reckon walk&amp;#x2F;bike&amp;#x2F;transit to school in your country?</text></comment>