Is 7:30 a.m. - the time that high school in Bellevue starts -- too early? A petition for national legislation to prevent school from starting until 8 p.m. has been circulating for the past month asking the president to consider this and the deadline is today to sign it.
A Maryland woman started a petition at the White House's We the People website last month to drum up support for legislation that would prevent high schools from starting before 8 a.m. The petition was started by a Severna Park woman who wrote in her local contributes to "student performance, truancy, and absenteeism, as well as depression, mood swings, impulse control, tobacco and alcohol use, impaired cognitive function and decision-making, obesity, stimulant abuse, automobile accidents, and suicide."
People as young as 13 may sign the petition, and the petition needs 5,000 signatures before it gets an official response from the White House.
The campaign so far has a long way to go -- more than 3,000 signatures -- to reach its goal of 5,000 signatures by Nov. 2. However, as of last night, two people from Bellevue have signed the petition, indicating that for at least a few people, 7:30 a.m. may be too early. Locally, that's before sunrise, which is at 7:54 a.m. on Wednesday.
What do you think? Could Bellevue students benefit from a later start time? Why?
