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Early Start Times: A Questionable Debate

For my blog post, I wanted to choose an argument I could relate to and understand from a personal perspective. For my weekly blog, I chose the argument of school start times because I’ve heard a lot of back and forth from both sides. I also haven’t been on Reddit before, so this was a whole new experience for me, trying to find an argument about this. However, I chose this Reddit thread because the topic is relatable to almost everyone, and they also question why schools start so early if research suggests a later start time. As someone who used to and still struggles to wake up for school, I was interested to see what people thought. This discussion quickly turns into a debate, with commenters sharing strong opinions, personal stories, and frustrations. 


One concern I noticed is that a lot of comments would say opinions as facts without citing any research. Also, the original post mentions that it’s “proven” to be harmful, but very few responses include credible sources. Another issue is the heavy reliance on personal experience. Just because I have trouble waking up in the morning and getting focused on schoolwork doesn’t mean everyone else in the world has the same difficulty. While seeing comments like, “I focused better in the mornings,” adds perspective and another viewpoint, neither claims replace factual evidence. Finally, some people make the issue seem simple by saying it’s just because of work schedules, without thinking about how complicated school systems really are. 




To argue more constructively online, people should do these 5 things: 

  1. Support their claims with credible evidence. 

  2. Separate personal experience from factual claims.

  3. Avoid disrespectful language to decrease the chance of emotion taking over the debate.

  1. Recognize that things are more complex behind the scenes than just what you see or think you understand. 

  2. Consider the audience before posting, because having an audience that can't fully understand you is like having one that can't even hear you. 




According to Campbell, Huxman, and Burkholder (2014), good arguments pay attention to their audience, purpose, and a balance of credibility, logic, and emotion. This Reddit thread mostly focuses on feelings and doesn’t always use facts. This just goes to show how following these ideas could make discussions, like this one, better. 


Reference: 

Campbell, K. K., Huxman, S. S., & Burkholder, T. A. (2014). The rhetorical act: Thinking, speaking, and writing critically (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. 

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