Should secondary schools start later in the morning?
Hong Kong teenagers are among the most sleep-deprived in the region, yet most schools still ring the first bell before eight. A later start would not spoil discipline; it would align the timetable with adolescent biology and improve learning. Sleep researchers have shown that teenagers’ body clocks shift later. Asking a sixteen-year-old to analyse a poem at 7:40 a.m. is asking the brain to sprint before it has woken. Schools that delayed the first lesson reported fewer late arrivals and more alert discussion, not chaos in the corridors. Critics worry that after-school activities would be squeezed. The calendar can move as a whole: clubs could begin and end thirty minutes later, and families who rely on older siblings for pickup could be given a term’s notice. Convenience should not outrank health. Starting later is not a luxury. It is a timetable that treats sleep as part of education, not as an obstacle to it.