AP English Language — Rhetorical Situation — Writing Drill 2

The following is a draft of a student op-ed submitted to a school newspaper. The intended audience is high school students, parents, and administrators. The writer argues that school start times should be moved later. [1] Schools start too early. [2] Most high schools in this district begin at 7:15 a.m., which means students are expected to be alert and learning at an hour when their brains are not yet fully functional. [3] This is not laziness. [4] It is biology. [5] Research by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control has found that adolescents are biologically programmed to fall asleep later and wake up later than children or adults — a shift in circadian rhythm that begins at puberty and persists through early adulthood. [6] When schools require teenagers to be present and attentive at 7:15 a.m., they are requiring them to perform at the equivalent of 5 a.m. by adult standards. [7] The consequences are well documented: lower academic performance, higher rates of depression and anxiety, increased risk of accidents among teenage drivers, and chronic sleep deprivation that compounds over the school week. [8] Some administrators argue that later start times would create logistical problems — particularly for bus schedules and after-school activities. [9] These are legitimate concerns. [10] But other districts have managed the transition. [11] Seattle moved its high school start times from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. in 2016 and found that students gained an average of 34 additional minutes of sleep per night, academic performance improved, and attendance rates increased. [12] The logistical challenges were real but solvable. [13] The student body is asking the school board to consider this change. [14] We deserve a school day that works with our biology, not against it. [15] A later start time is not a luxury. [16] It is a health issue, an equity issue, and an academic issue. [17] We hope the board will take it seriously.