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Substitute football for "ballet" and pep rallies for "debate team practice" and drop the completely non-relevant (and severely biased) quote about head trauma a

Substitute football for "ballet" and pep rallies for "debate team practice" and drop the completely non-relevant (and severely biased) quote about head trauma and see if you get the same reaction. I know it's fun to pick on Football and jocks in general but I don't think we can have a serious debate on the subject when the bias is so obvious. What about we make athletics part of the school day? Shocking I know, but if we recognize athletics as an important key to youth development and not something that has to happen after "real school" than maybe we might be able to tackle this issue of kids being so overwhelmed and having to stay up late just to stay afloat.

ANTSANTS 13y ago
I don't think it's fair to make every student wake up unnaturally early for the sake of those with any kind of extracurricular activity, not just sports. Harming school performance and sleep depriving developing children in the time that they need sleep the most, just to give a self-selected portion of the student body extra time for sports, debate team, student council, etc. makes absolutely no sense to me. >What about we make athletics part of the school day? We already did, it's called "gym."
- DamnYuppie 13y ago
  Unnaturally early? If we really want to go that route we should consider that our ancestors, until very recent times, were generally well awake before 8:00 AM on any given day. Also they generally didn't stay up late by our current standards, generally in bed an hour or two after sundown. So the issue isn't 8:00 am is unnaturally early, it is most likely staying up unnaturally late that is the culprit.
  - josefresco 13y ago
    We are not our ancestors ;) In all seriousness, sometimes we cannot look into the past to guide us as we as humans and culture have evolved to develop many new behaviors and biological traits. Our ancestors lived much shorter lives, in a vastly different world, doing vastly different type of work/schooling, I don't think it's fair to compare everything so literally.
  - ANTSANTS 13y ago
    I wish I could have gotten up at 8 or even 7AM when I was in school. We're talking about school starting hours, not wakeup times. You can't wake up just before the bell rings and teleport into class. Depending on how far you live from school, what transportation method you use (whether you ride a school bus, regular public transportation, are a spoiled brat that can get mommy to drive you, etc), what your responsibilities are outside of school, and so on, you may need to wake up a considerable amount of time before the school day officially begins. My school started at 7:30AM, which required I get up just before 6AM, from middle school onward. I don't think that's a natural time to require growing teenagers to wake up at. It was still dark outside then, where I lived. Even amongst grown adults, those that can wake up that early and function without incurring a sleep debt are rare. >So the issue.. is most likely staying up unnaturally late. Kids naturally begin staying up and waking up later after they hit puberty. Trying to fight that is stupid and harmful.
  - dTal 13y ago
    You don't get straight out of bed into a classroom. As for the end of the day, you can either spend the rest of the daylight hours doing homework indoors and then go straight to bed, or you can go outside and do the homework later, after dark (requiring less than 8 hours of sleep). Which is the healthier lifestyle?
- josefresco 13y ago
  "gym" is a joke on many different levels ... but that's a different debate altogether. Also I take issue with the term "extracurricular" as it implies something separate from "actual" schooling. Maybe if these activities weren't tacked on after school like an afterthought more kids would be apt to take them up.
- throwaway344 13y ago
  I hate to be pedantic, but I don't think "self-selected" is really accurate. In my, and most high schools, in my area, most people do at least one extracurricular, and most do many more than that.
  - tjr 13y ago
    If it's not self-selected, then who selects it?
surge 13y ago
I don't know why football practice can't just be a PE replacement credit. Other than your PE coaches can't be two places at once if they are also team coaches.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
AngrySkillzz 13y ago
Not quite the same, you don't need daylight to do ballet or debate.
prostoalex 13y ago
Neither ballet or debate needs natural sunlight.

ANTSANTS 13y ago

I don't think it's fair to make every student wake up unnaturally early for the sake of those with any kind of extracurricular activity, not just sports. Harming school performance and sleep depriving developing children in the time that they need sleep the most, just to give a self-selected portion of the student body extra time for sports, debate team, student council, etc. makes absolutely no sense to me. >What about we make athletics part of the school day? We already did, it's called "gym."

DamnYuppie 13y ago
Unnaturally early? If we really want to go that route we should consider that our ancestors, until very recent times, were generally well awake before 8:00 AM on any given day. Also they generally didn't stay up late by our current standards, generally in bed an hour or two after sundown. So the issue isn't 8:00 am is unnaturally early, it is most likely staying up unnaturally late that is the culprit.
- josefresco 13y ago
  We are not our ancestors ;) In all seriousness, sometimes we cannot look into the past to guide us as we as humans and culture have evolved to develop many new behaviors and biological traits. Our ancestors lived much shorter lives, in a vastly different world, doing vastly different type of work/schooling, I don't think it's fair to compare everything so literally.
- ANTSANTS 13y ago
  I wish I could have gotten up at 8 or even 7AM when I was in school. We're talking about school starting hours, not wakeup times. You can't wake up just before the bell rings and teleport into class. Depending on how far you live from school, what transportation method you use (whether you ride a school bus, regular public transportation, are a spoiled brat that can get mommy to drive you, etc), what your responsibilities are outside of school, and so on, you may need to wake up a considerable amount of time before the school day officially begins. My school started at 7:30AM, which required I get up just before 6AM, from middle school onward. I don't think that's a natural time to require growing teenagers to wake up at. It was still dark outside then, where I lived. Even amongst grown adults, those that can wake up that early and function without incurring a sleep debt are rare. >So the issue.. is most likely staying up unnaturally late. Kids naturally begin staying up and waking up later after they hit puberty. Trying to fight that is stupid and harmful.
- dTal 13y ago
  You don't get straight out of bed into a classroom. As for the end of the day, you can either spend the rest of the daylight hours doing homework indoors and then go straight to bed, or you can go outside and do the homework later, after dark (requiring less than 8 hours of sleep). Which is the healthier lifestyle?
josefresco 13y ago
"gym" is a joke on many different levels ... but that's a different debate altogether. Also I take issue with the term "extracurricular" as it implies something separate from "actual" schooling. Maybe if these activities weren't tacked on after school like an afterthought more kids would be apt to take them up.
throwaway344 13y ago
I hate to be pedantic, but I don't think "self-selected" is really accurate. In my, and most high schools, in my area, most people do at least one extracurricular, and most do many more than that.
- tjr 13y ago
  If it's not self-selected, then who selects it?

surge 13y ago

I don't know why football practice can't just be a PE replacement credit. Other than your PE coaches can't be two places at once if they are also team coaches.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

AngrySkillzz 13y ago

Not quite the same, you don't need daylight to do ballet or debate.

prostoalex 13y ago

Neither ballet or debate needs natural sunlight.