Some Patch Readers Say 'Earlier Bed Times Over Later Start Times' at Trenton, Grosse Ile Schools

Despite much talk recently about creating later start times for public high schools, some Trenton-Grosse Ile Patch readers are adamantly against the idea.

State Supt. Mike Flanagan says he supports a national suggestion to start high school later in the day.

"There's lots of research and common sense that a lot of teens struggle to get up at 6 in the morning to get on the bus or 5:30 in the morning to get on the bus," he said in an interview on National Public Radio's "The Diane Rehm Show." 

Some Trenton and Grosse Ile parents and former students say later start times would be a nonissue if parents would send children to bed earlier, so they can get a minimum of seven or eight hours of sleep—the recommended number of hours of sleep for people over 12 years old by the MayoClinic.com.

Reader Rachel Lozon said: "As for the later start time, I think the majority of kids are staying up too late. If they had a routine of getting the 8-10 hours of sleep every night, the normal start time wouldn't be so difficult for some kids. It's all in what the body is accustomed to. Everyone is different though. And as I stated before. I blame the phones and social media for the lack of sleep kids are getting. I've experienced this with my own kids. Turning texting off during the week actually works. This is my opinion. I respect everyone else's opinion as well."

Richard Gyolai said, "Let us not forget, if they start later, they also get home later. If they are in sports and have practice, they will be home very late, and still have school work to do. So what is wrong with just telling them it's time to go to bed. How many of us had that early starting time? Did we turn out ok? I think so, and when it was time to go to bed, did you fight with your parents about it, or did you go to bed? I know what I did. It's time for parents to be parents and quit trying to be their friends."

Not all readers were against later start times. Some readers who commented on the Trenton-Grosse Ile Patch Facebook page were for later start times, especially those parents whose children are involved in extra curricular activities.

Tracey White Loger said this of later start times, "YES! Especially now that kindergarten is full day. My little one is so exhausted by 6pm and getting her to bed by 8 is a challenge some nights. Especially when there are extracurricular activities after school, dinner, baths, and homework. I have spent some nights doing homework with my older daughter (9) for at least an hour sometimes more. My daughters are limited to 1-2 activities outside of school, I cant imagine parents who deal with more."

What do you think? How can later start times benefit or hurt a child's shot at a good education?